"They're not going back there soon" - NFL analyst believes Bengals will have to wait for their next Super Bowl appearance
The Cincinnati Bengals made their first Super Bowl appearance since 1988 on Sunday. And, just like their previous two trips to the Super Bowl, they didn't leave with the Lombardi trophy as they lost 23-20 to the Los Angeles Rams last night in Super Bowl LVI.
According FOX Sports analyst Nick Wright, the Bengals won't be back to the Super Bowl anytime soon. On Monday morning's episode of the show "First Things First," Wright went on to be critical of Cincinnati's offensive line, which has been one of the worst this season.
He also went on to say that head coach Zac Taylor was one of the worst in the AFC North and that the only reason they won the division title was because the rest of the teams in the division suffered injuries.
"I hope they had a wonderful Superbowl week because I'm not thinking they're back there anytime soon. 17 of the last 21 Super Bowl losers have failed to win a playoff game the next year. So here's the problem for Cincinnati, they weren't that good this year. They lost eight times, they had another 5 wins that were Evan MacPherson field goals at the gun or in overtime. There's a reason Joe Burrow was sacked seven times yesterday, it's the same reason he was sacked the most times of anybody in football this year and he got injured getting sacked last year. That offensive line is an abomination and by the way, you have the worst coach in your division by a mile and by the way, every other quarterback in your division this year either got hurt or was you know, three years past the expiration date in Big Ben, like they had everything go right for them and they almost stole a Super Bowl and I am happy for them in that regard, but this team when you look at the AFC landscape."
Nick Wright truly believes that the Cincinnati Bengals have had their time in the sun and will not return to the big game due to what he considers generic head coaching and subpar performance. He continued with his statement:
"When you look at how good but not great the Bengals were with everything going their way...when you look at the fact that they just had a Super Bowl where they were plus two in the turnover battle. The teams that were plus two or better in the Super Bowl had been 30-2 going into last night and hadn't lost one since 1980. I look at the AFC and I'm like going into next year, you know, they are somewhere in that eight to five range, fifth-best to eighth-best team. You know, I don't think they'll be favorites to win their division or they shouldn't be and I think that it's going to be back to being the Bengals here pretty quickly despite how good Burrow is."-Nick Wright on "First Things First"
"I do not think the Bengals are here to stay. This is a team that lost 8 games this year & 5 of their wins came on field goals at the gun. ... They're not going to be a perennial contender. This was their chance. I think they miss the playoffs next year." — @getnickwright https://t.co/5b2szY3zIo
Wright hasn't been on the Bengals bandwagon at all this season. He didn't take them to win during the playoffs and last week declared that they were a 'fluke.'
He is clearly continuing that sentiment into the future as well.
What do the Cincinnati Bengals need to return to the Super Bowl?
The Los Angeles Rams defensive line may be one of the best in the league. But that isn't necessarily what cost the Cincinnati Bengals their first Super Bowl victory.
Cincinnati's offensive line has been one of the worst this season.
In the regular season, they were ranked 30th out of 32 teams, allowing quarterback Joe Burrow to be sacked 51 times, more than any other quarterback in 2021.
This offseason, he was sacked a shocking 19 times, also a record number of sacks in a postseason. The team drafted Joe Burrow as the quarterback of the future, but in order for him to be able to have the success he's achieved in under two years, surrounding him with a solid offensive line is necessary.
Every single 2022 NFL Draft pick for the Bengals has to be offensive line.
Burrow already suffered a torn ACL in his rookie season and appeared to suffer another knee injury during Super Bowl LVI on Sunday night, but he was able to stay in the game.
Cincinnati has used the last few drafts to build its defense, and the 2022 NFL Draft should be focused on getting offensive line help first before anything else.