To make a deep playoff run—or especially to win a Super Bowl—a team needs more than talent.
They need to make the right offseason moves. They need to win the games they’re supposed to win. They need to win a couple they’re not supposed to win. They need to stay healthy. And at some point, they need a little help.
Only one team in NFL history has gone undefeated. Every other champion has benefited from a fortunate bounce, a timely injury, an upset somewhere else in the bracket, or a break that changed
the course of a season.
Teams can only control so much.
For the longest time, the Bengals didn’t even do everything they could control. They shopped in the bargain bin during free agency. They cut corners. They relied on luck more than most franchises because they weren’t willing to spend or take risks the way true contenders do.
Not this year.
The trade for Dexter Lawrence was the home-run swing generations of Bengals fans have been waiting to see. The Bengals rarely part with premium draft picks, let alone a top-10 selection, which makes the move all the more remarkable. Lawrence’s arrival has understandably dominated headlines, but it has also overshadowed a quietly impressive free-agent class that includes Boye Mafe, Bryan Cook, Kyle Dugger, Jonathan Allen, and the return of right guard Dalton Risner.
Mafe and Cook are expected to step directly into starting roles. Dugger will battle Jordan Battle for snaps alongside Cook. Allen joins Lawrence to form a defensive front that suddenly looks deep, talented, and 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.
For example:
- They have one of the easier schedules in the NFL.
- Both Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh are gone, throwing the Steelers and Ravens into periods of uncertainty.
- They open the season with seven consecutive 1 p.m. kickoffs, giving them unusual consistency during the first half of the season.
- The Browns are still the Browns.
- And perhaps most importantly, Myles Garrett is no longer in the AFC North.
Garrett is only one player, but he happens to be the best defensive player in football.
Very few pass rushers can line up anywhere along the defensive front and completely wreck a game plan. Garrett can. In fact, he does it better than anyone else in the league.
The Browns received a talented young pass rusher in Jared Verse, 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 we watch the Bengals make a trade most fans never thought possible, but we also watched a division rival make a trade they swore they never would.
It’s enough to make you wonder.
Maybe the football gods are finally aligning the stars over Cincinnati.
The Bengals have done their part. They’ve invested. They’ve taken risks. They’ve aggressively addressed weaknesses instead of take half measures.
And now, for once, fate seems willing to meet them halfway. If Lady Luck decides to join the party, too?
Watch out.
Luck, be a lady tonight
Luck, be a lady tonight
Luck, if you’ve ever been a lady to begin with
Luck, be a lady tonight
