NFL Notebook: 2025 Cincinnati Bengals Preview
This is a big year for the Cincinnati Bengals and head coach Zac Taylor. The promise of going to the Super Bowl in 2021 and the AFC Championship Game in 2022 has vanished into the abyss of two straight years missing the playoffs. The possibility of letting 28-year-old Joe Burrow’s prime go to waste is a real possibility. Taylor has to be feeling the heat. 2025 is going to be a threshold year for this franchise.
A HIGH-POWERED PASSING GAME
Burrow played at an MVP level last year and had Cincinnati made the postseason, he might have won the award. His 4,918 passing yards and 43 touchdowns both led the league. He did it with precision efficiency, a completion rate of 71 percent. He made big plays, averaging a solid 7.5 yards-per-attempt. And he steered clear of mistakes, throwing just nine interceptions at a 1.4 percent rate.
Ja’Marr Chase continues to be one of the NFL’s elite receivers. He was another league leader, setting the pace at his position with 127 catches for over 1,700 yards. And Burrow has other options in the passing game. Tee Higgins is a solid #2 receiver. Mike Gesicki is a reliable tight end. In the slot, Andrei Iosivas averaged over 13 yards a catch, a healthy number for a position that tends to be targeted on shorter throws.
In the running game, Chase Brown went for 990 yards and averaged better than a four a pop. Brown also contributes to the passing game, with 54 catches. Cincinnati’s skill positions are deep, combining elite star power with solid performances from the subordinate roles.
TROUBLE IN THE TRENCHES
The offensive line manages to illustrate both the excellence of the skill positions and the problems the Bengals have. It’s just not a very good unit. They had major problems protecting Burrow last year, with veteran left tackle Orlando Brown looking like he’s in career decline. There’s no one specific position on this front five that’s an area of strength. Cincinnati desperately needs third-round draft pick Dylan Fairchild to have an immediate impact and even that might not be enough. That the skill guys put up numbers in spite of this is amazing. But it’s not a long-term solution.
CAN THE DEFENSE BE FIXED?
The defense was awful last year, ranking 25th in the league for points allowed. Cincinnati used free agency and their high draft picks to address this area, and they also hired a new coordinator. Al Golden, most recently seen as the DC at Notre Dame, will get his first chance being a coordinator at the NFL level.
What the Bengals didn’t need was discord, and that’s what they have with the stalled contract negotiations with Trey Hendrickson. The great defensive end recorded 17 ½ sacks last year and was this unit’s only real bright spot. He ended his training camp holdout but still has not signed a long-term contract extension. This story promises to loom over the team until it’s settled. Although I guess we can also take a positive spin and say that Hendrickson will be motivated to play for free agency next year.
Either way, the Bengals need Hendrickson pressuring the passer. They used their first-round pick on Shemar Stewart, another defensive end who is not currently listed as a starter but will get substantial playing time. Their used their second-round pick on linebacker Demetrius Knight.
Most important, their big free-agent acquisition was Oren Burks, one of the best linebackers in the game and fresh off winning a Super Bowl in Philadelphia. Cincinnati needs Burks to continue playing at that level. They also need last year’s big free-agent pickup—free safety Geno Stone—to bounce back. Stone’s poor play last year, after the Bengals snatched him Baltimore, was a good symbol for the defensive failings overall.
OUTLOOK
Cincinnati has still played winning football these past two years, going 9-8 both seasons. They closed strong in 2024, winning their final five games. Only a strange loss in Week 1 to the otherwise lowly New England Patriots, a game where Burrow was still shaking off injury rust, kept the Bengals out of the playoffs. Even in the challenging AFC North, it’s fair to have expectations for this team and betting markets have set the Over/Under for wins at 9.5.
As I’ve written in other previews, I’m withholding judgment until we do our final preseason preview just before the September 4 opener. On no team is that truer than these Bengals. I think they’ll be pretty good. But man, those holes on the offensive line and defense really stand out. We can say this for sure—they’re at the top of the list of teams most interesting to watch in September.