February 2022 was the year Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals made the Super Bowl for the first time in 33 years, and seemed to be the day that win or lose their Super Bowl success would continue for years to come, but fast forward to July 2025, and their elite, world beating offense is being let down by their woeful defense, the only obstacle which is stopping them from potentially creating a dynasty.
Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins, the three musketeers in Cincy who make up arguably the most dangerous offensive trio in the NFL should have by now gotten themselves a Super Bowl ring on their hands, or at least a couple for SB appearances, but constant defensive setbacks, and no signs of improvement or effort to upgrade defensively, their electric offense can't go anywhere without the help of their defense, and the area in which let them down in the Super Bowl is still a gaping problem for the Bengals.
Heading into the 2025/26 season, with the big three all locked down on the offense, the defense looked like it had some solid housework during the offseason, with a big Trey Hendrickson extension inbound, and a solid upgrade in pass rushing with first round pick out of Texas A&M Shemar Stewart, but as time swiftly moved on a couple of months, it looks like the chances of both playing for the Bengals this year are growing slimmer and slimmer. As both continue to suffer with poor contract negotiations, and are making it hard for themselves to sign, this would not only mean two great, and promising pass rushers would make a swift exit, but would leave the team in a horrible situation defensively heading into next season, and without any concrete options to fill a gap that already needed filling prior to the two leaving.
But, the problems don't end there. It looked like the pass rushing and tackling in the middle of the field was patched up with Hendrickson and Stewart, but with that plan fading away slowly, their attention needed to focus on other areas, one in particular being the secondary. It has been a while since the Bengals have really had an X-factor corner of safety, and with little to no depth in the back end, and poor communication and coverage over the last few years, it won't be easy to find two or three solid secondary options for next season, and if worst comes to worst, some big sacrifices may need to be made to add some elite traits to the back end of the defense. In the modern day NFL where deep passing and zone defense is at its peak, there is nothing worse for a team with a poor secondary unit when it comes up against elite receivers, and this year, it is only a matter of time until the Bengals secondary collapses completely.
There are even more defensive works which need work in the offseason, including rush defense and overall tackling, but coaching changes and new schemes need to be adapted to make the team work. Burrow and his guys can only go so far in outsourcing the opponents, and without the trust of the defense, it is hard to compete with teams who are on the cusp of the postseason, and is a real big problem in Cincinnati. A poor and lacklustre defense may be what stops them going as far as they can, and the last few years may be looked back on as a question, what if the Bengals had a solid defense, and could they have had a serious dynasty, and have they really wasted an offensive trio of a lifetime?
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