Cincy Jungle
It’s been a frustrating offseason for Cincinnati Bengals fans.
Yes, they managed to lock up Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins long-term, keeping the “Big Three” intact, but Trey Hendrickson remains without an extension. Their standoff with first-round pick Shemar Stewart was ugly and public, and most outside observers believe the front office hasn’t done enough to avoid another season ending on the couch instead of in the playoffs.
ESPN’s Louis Riddick is among them. On First Take, he said he trusts the Raiders — and even the Patriots — more than the Bengals to reach the postseason.
“I’d trust the Raiders right now to find a way to sneak into the playoffs before I would trust the Bengals,” Riddick said Wednesday.
He pointed to New England’s “all-star” coaching staff as an example of a team that can outperform its talent, while hammering Cincinnati’s biggest weakness: the offensive line.
“Since Joe’s been there, they’ve been in the bottom quarter of the league in pass block win rate every single year,” Riddick said. “And people go, ‘Well, he’s been able to manage it!’ Look at the season he had last year. You’re playing with fire, asking him to be perfect every single week behind turnstiles.
“While everyone else in the AFC is gaining ground, his team is losing it. Trey Hendrickson doesn’t make them a Super Bowl contender or a playoff contender by himself. There are far more fundamental issues with this team.”
There’s plenty to unpack, and he’s not wrong about much of it. The Bengals have failed Joe Burrow in protection. He dragged them to a Super Bowl and back-to-back AFC Championship Games while being hit more than just about any other quarterback in football.
This offseason, Cincinnati drafted Dylan Fairchild in the third round, and he’s been steady, but they didn’t exactly go all-in on fixing right guard. They’re still shuffling players, hoping something sticks, and unless Dalton Risner signs in Cincinnati, they’re once again flirting with disaster for their franchise quarterback’s health.
And then there’s the defense. Hendrickson’s situation is only one problem. The Bengals ignored their secondary—the same unit that was among the league’s worst in 2024—and are banking on DJ Turner and Dax Hill bouncing back to fix things. Several proven free agents were available, but the team stuck with what they had.
So is Riddick wrong to doubt them? Not really. It’s hard to imagine a team with a quarterback who threw for 4,918 yards and 43 touchdowns, a wideout who won the Triple Crown, and the league’s sack leader missing the playoffs. But that’s exactly what happened last season. And while the collapse wasn’t all on the defense, it was mostly on the defense—and now they enter 2025 without their best player.
Does that inspire confidence? I don’t see it. But in Joe we trust.
Hopefully, Riddick is wrong. Hopefully I’m wrong. I’d love nothing more than for the Bengals to make me eat crow.
What do you think?
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