The Cincinnati Bengals’ rebuild went about as well as anyone could have hoped. It was fewer than 22 months ago when Cincinnati held the top pick in the 2020 NFL Draft following a 2-14 season.
Now the Bengals are one win away from their first-ever NFL championship.
Their road to Super Bowl 56 has been anything but likely. Cincinnati went 4-11-1 last year behind 10 games of big numbers and few wins from rookie quarterback Joe Burrow — and then he went down for the season with a knee injury in Week 11. Neither the offense nor the defense were top 25 units in a 32-team league.
