To make a deep playoff run—or win a Super Bowl—an NFL team needs more than talent.
It requires smart offseason moves, winning expected games, stealing a few upsets, staying healthy, and catching some breaks.
Only one team in history has gone undefeated.
Every other champion has benefited from a fortunate bounce, a timely injury, or an upset elsewhere in the bracket.
For years, the Bengals didn't do everything they could control.
They shopped in the bargain bin during free agency, cut corners, and relied on luck more than most franchises.
Not this year. The trade for Dexter Lawrence was the home-run swing generations of Bengals fans have waited for.
Cincinnati rarely parts with premium draft picks, let alone a top-10 selection.
Lawrence's arrival has dominated headlines, but it overshadowed a quietly impressive free-agent class: Boye Mafe, Bryan Cook, Kyle Dugger, Jonathan Allen, and the return of right guard Dalton Risner.
Mafe and Cook are expected to start immediately. Dugger will battle Jordan Battle for snaps alongside Cook.
Allen joins Lawrence to form a deep, talented defensive front capable of taking over games.
Those are the things the Bengals can control. The things they can't control seem to be breaking their way, too.
Favorable Circumstances
- They have one of the easier schedules in the NFL.
- Both Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh are gone, leaving the Steelers and Ravens in uncertainty.
- They open with seven consecutive 1 p.m. kickoffs, providing unusual consistency.
- The Browns are still the Browns.
- Most importantly, Myles Garrett is no longer in the AFC North.
Garrett is the best defensive player in football. Few pass rushers can line up anywhere and wreck a game plan.
Garrett does it better than anyone.
The Browns received talented young pass rusher Jared Verse in return, but Verse isn't Garrett. Nobody is Garrett except Garrett.
For the first time in years, Joe Burrow won't have to worry about seeing No. 95 twice every season.
Not only did the Bengals make a trade most fans thought impossible, but a division rival made a trade they swore they never would.
Maybe the football gods are aligning the stars over Cincinnati.
The Bengals have done their part: they invested, took risks, and aggressively addressed weaknesses instead of taking half measures.
Now, for once, fate seems willing to meet them halfway. If Lady Luck decides to join the party, too?
