Scouting Sundays #7: The Cincinnati Bengals š
Joe Burrow is the Bengalsā star quarterback. He missed part of last season with an injury, and the team didnāt make the playoffs.
Now heās healthy, ready to lead again, and fans in Cincinnati are hoping he can take them all the way.
Oh, and Zac Taylor has been the Bengalsā head coach for six years. If they donāt win big this year, some major changes could be coming.
Last year: 9ā8
Missed playoffs
Division: AFC North
š Missed the kickoff? Weāre counting down the top 10 NFL and college football teams of 2025. If youāre just jumping in, you can catch the full plan (and every team so far) by clicking here. š
ā Stars to Know
The Bengals have star power on both offense and defense. These are the players who could turn big plays into big wins.
Joe Burrow ā Quarterback
Burrow is the Bengalsā leaderā¦ and one of the best quarterbacks in all of football when heās healthy.
Now Burrow is back under center and ready to prove that the Bengals belong with the AFCās best.
The only problem? The AFC is absolutely stacked with superstar quarterbacksā¦ and if you keep reading our countdown the next few days, youāll see exactly what that means.
JaāMarr Chase ā Wide Receiver
Every quarterback needs a go-to receiver. For Burrow, that guy is Chase.
Heās fast, fearless, and makes catches that donāt seem possible. Last year, he led the team in yards, touchdowns, and jaw-dropping highlights.
When Chase gets the ball in space? He can turn any play into a touchdown. Heās one of the most dangerous wide receivers in the league.
The best part?
š„ First, Burrow and Chase were teammates in college at LSU.
š„ Now, theyāve graduated to the same incredible plays in the NFL.
Trey Hendrickson ā Defensive End
Hendrickson is not just the Bengalsā top pass rusher. Heās one of the best in the NFL.
He had 17.5 sacks last season, the most of any player in the league.
(Yes, players can be credited with a āhalf sackā when two defenders split the credit for a tackle on the quarterback.)
When heās on the field, quarterbacks donāt have much time to think.
But hereās the twist: heās not happy with his contract, so weāre not sure if heāll play in Week 1.
š Stories to Watch
Cincinnatiās got the pieces. A healthy quarterback. Elite receivers. And a defense thatās trying to catch up.
Hereās what could shape their season.
Can the Defense Catch Up to the Offense?
The Bengalsā offense is built to score fast. But last season, the defense struggled to keep up. Cincinnati gave up too many big plays and finished near the bottom of the league in yards allowed.
So they brought in Al Golden, a veteran coach known for simplifying things and helping young players improve quickly. If the defense tightens up? The Bengals could be back in the playoff mix.
Protecting Burrow at All Costs
The best way to keep Burrow healthy is to protect him better.
Over the past two seasons, heās taken too many hits, including the one that ended his year early in 2024.
The Bengals made changes to their offensive line. Now they have to deliver. If they can give him time, Burrow and the offense could be unstoppable. If not? Everything gets harder.
The Final Season for This WR Duo?
Along with Chase, Tee Higgins has formed one of the best wide receiver duos in the league.
But Higgins is in the last year of his contract and could leave after this year.
That makes 2025 even more important. If the Bengals want to make noise, nowās the time.
š Did You Know?
Cincinnati is one of the smallest cities in the NFL, with a population of about 315,000.
Thatās way smaller than New York (8.5 million!), Los Angeles (3.9 million), or Chicago (2.7 million)!
š§ Whatās the population in your hometown?
Write down a guessā¦ and then ask your grown-up to help you look it up!
Were you close? š
But donāt let the population fool you. Bengals fans are some of the loudest, proudest, and most loyal anywhere.
Season tickets sell out. The city turns orange and black on game days. And when the teamās good? The whole region rallies around them like family.
Even little kids in Cincinnati know this chant by heart:
š„ āWho Dey think gonna beat them Bengals?!ā
šµļøāāļøāÆ Before we go, here are five facts about Joe Burrow. But be carefulā¦ one of them is made up!
Can you spot the fake?
1ļøā£ He grew up in Ohio and started his college career at Ohio State.
2ļøā£ After time as a backup, he transferred to LSU, where he went 15ā0, won a national championship, threw 60 touchdowns, including 20 to Chase, and took home the Heisman Trophy (thatās like college footballās MVP).
3ļøā£ His nicknames include āJoe Coolā and āJoe Brrrā because of how calm he stays under pressure.
4ļøā£ He loved comics as a kid and wears a lucky SpongeBob SquarePants shirt under his uniform for every game.
5ļøā£ He plays chess to sharpen his brain and says it helps him think strategicallyā¦ an important skill for a QB.
š¤ Need a hint? Joe is known for wearing cool outfitsā¦ but the fake fact is more game-day goof than game-day truth.
And thatās the Bengals. Calm, cool, and ready to chase a Super Bowl.
Tomorrow, weāre off to a team with a second-year quarterback looking to prove heās the commander of one of the NFLās most explosive offenses. š
Oh, and before we wrap, a little baseball bonus.
Because while we were breaking down Burrow and the Bengals, a rookie just had one of the greatest games at the plate in history!
In just his 66th career game, Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz was on fire.
Four home runs. Six hits. Nineteen total bases (thatās one for each base you touch, so a homer counts as four!).
š„ Wanna see what it looked like?
Heās the first rookie in MLB history to hit four home runs in a game.
And heās just the second player ever to do it as part of a 6-for-6 nightā¦
š„ Matching this legendary game from Shawn Green in 2002.
Smallball is just for fun.
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