Key Piece of Cincinnati Bengals' Failures Make List of Top Negative Narratives That Could Change in 2025

The Bengals finished 9-8 and missed the playoffs for a second-straight season.

Al Golden / © Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — The Bengals have missed the playoffs in each of the past two seasons. They're hoping to change that in 2025.

New defensive coordinator Al Golden is a big reason why they're hopeful. NFL.com's Judy Battista believes questions about the Bengals' defense is the third-biggest negative narrative to watch this season.

"Do the Bengals have a defense?" Battista asked. "It is maddening to watch a team have the NFL's sack leader (Trey Hendrickson), a triple-crown winning wide receiver (Ja’Marr Chase) and one of the best quarterbacks alive (Joe Burrow) and still miss the playoffs because of the defense. And while the Bengals poured resources into keeping the offense intact by giving new contracts to Chase, Tee Higgins and Mike Gesicki, they have not overhauled the D. New coordinator Al Golden has to hope Hendrickson's contract drama gets resolved soon -- yes, the defense was still bad with him, but it's frightening to think where the unit would be without him -- and he also has to get the most out of rookie first-round defensive end Shemar Stewart, who's currently going through a contract dispute of his own. That's an awful lot of pressure on Golden and Stewart to provide enough improvement for a defense that otherwise saw mostly tweaks. The good news is that just a little uptick from where the unit was last season ought to be enough to allow Burrow and Co. to do the rest."

The Bengals are certainly banking on Golden and the rest of the defensive coaching staff to get more out of the players that were on the roster last season. From Myles Murphy and Joseph Ossai to Geno Stone and Cam Taylor-Britt—this team believes a lot of the same faces are going to be much improved and more consistent in 2025.

Check out Battista's entire article here.

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