In the end, despite a five-game winning streak to close the season, the Cincinnati Bengals’ furious rally to make the 2025 NFL playoffs fell just short. With the Denver Broncos’ blowout win over a backup-laden Kansas City Chiefs team, Denver secured the AFC’s No. 7 seed, leaving an MVP-caliber Joe Burrow on the outside looking in of the postseason.
Even worse, the Bengals’ failure was truly unique and rare. Well, at least on a statistical basis.
With 9-8 Cincinnati failing to qualify for the NFL playoffs, it officially became the first NFL team ever to miss the second season despite having each of the league’s leading passer (Burrow), the league’s leading receiver (Ja’Marr Chase), and the league’s leader in sacks (Trey Hendrickson).
Woof.
Man, that honestly just seems like a star-crossed turn of poor fortune all around:
The 2024 Bengals achieved an NFL first… and missed the playoffs entirely.
— The Athletic (@theathletic.bsky.social) January 6, 2025 at 6:04 AM
These Bengals will always be at the forefront with a quarterback like Burrow. But they clearly have a lot of work to do for a rebound if they’re missing the playoffs despite stats like this.