The Cincinnati Bengals provided tremendous hope for moribund franchises across the NFL.
Cincinnati, who hadn’t won a playoff game since 1990, went on a three-game winning streak in the AFC playoffs to meet the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium. Although the Bengals failed 23-20, they succeeded in giving optimism to teams looking for a quick turnaround.
The Houston Texans are one of those clubs hopeful they can have similar success as Cincinnati. New coach Lovie Smith spoke with Sports Illustrated’s MMQB and talked about how the franchise itself wasn’t that far away not too long ago.
