The Cincinnati Bengals shocked the world in 2021 by not only reaching the postseason — a rare sight for any Ohio-based NFL team — but making it all the way to the Super Bowl. Yet despite looking like a potential dynasty in the making, they haven't been back to the big game since, and have now missed the playoffs entirely for three straight seasons. This offseason, though, the Bengals loaded up on defense and improved the offensive line, doing everything they could to put Joe Burrow in position to lead the team back to the top of the mountain.
Burrow, for his part, has made it clear this is the best roster he's been a part of — and that he believes 2026 is the year it all finally clicks, routinely calling this a Super Bowl-caliber team. Speaking with Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, Burrow made clear he has no issue setting lofty expectations for the franchise. "I've never understood why people are scared to say it," Burrow said.
"I guess people get scared of how the media will portray them or their team in a certain way. But you have to set expectations with yourself, your teammates, your organization. Everybody says they want to win the Super Bowl, you talk about it every day, you set that expectation every day, you go and work for it every single day.
I mean, I don't know the answer to that for everybody, but that's what I want to do, that's what I'm trying to do, that's what I do this for. "I won the championship in college, and there's no freaking better feeling than that. And if you don't talk about it, I don't know how you can do it." More news: Bills Release Super Bowl Champion Right Before the Start of the Season More news: Browns’ Deshaun Watson Decision Looks Even Worse After Patriots Game From Athens High School in The Plains, Ohio, to Ohio State, LSU and now Cincinnati, Burrow has won everywhere he's gone.
His Heisman-winning 2019 season with the Tigers remains one of the best seasons in college football history, and the Bengals' Super Bowl run came in just his second year in the league. He's since made three Pro Bowls, won two Comeback Player of the Year awards, and is still one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. But now, coming up on his seventh year in the league and turning 30 in December, Burrow is tired of waiting for the rest of the organization to catch up.
This is a Bengals team under real championship-or-bust expectations — and he's not afraid to admit it. More news: Mike Vrabel Reveals Real Reason Behind Kayshon Boutte Trade
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