Bengals are back: Five reasons why Cincinnati ended their 31-year playoff drought

The Cincinnati Bengals’ resurgence can be traced back to Dec. 30, 2018. The Bengals had just concluded a disappointing 6-10 season with a 16-13 road loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Marvin Lewis, who had previously guided the Bengals to four division titles and seven playoff berths, fielded postgame questions about his future. Given the Bengals’ state at the time, along with the fact that division rivals Cleveland and Baltimore were kicking off new eras with promising rookie quarterbacks, Cincinnati fans braced themselves for a return to the franchise’s losing ways of the 1990s and early 2000s. 

Things got worse before they got better; Cincinnati won just two games in 2019 and were 4-11-1 in 2020. But following their season-ending loss in 2018, the Bengals made several big decisions that ultimately led to the success of the current team. Led by coach Zac Taylor, the Bengals are one of the biggest feel-good stories of the 2021 season. On Saturday night, the reigning AFC North champions ended the franchise’s 31-year playoff drought with a 26-19 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in the AFC wild card round. 

As they look forward to the divisional round, here’s a look at five things the Bengals did over the past several years that helped lay the foundation for their newfound success. 

Sticking with Taylor 

Bengals owner Mike Brown offered his public support of Taylor shortly after the end of the 2020 season. Taylor, who was hired at age 36 a year after serving as the Los Angeles Rams’ quarterbacks coach, went just 6-25-1 during his first two seasons in Cincinnati. But despite Taylor’s underwhelming record, along with mounting criticism from the outside, Brown stuck with his coach. 

“Our fans wanted a fresh new direction two years ago, and that is what we aimed to do in hiring a bright, energetic head coach in Zac Taylor,” Brown said in a statement. “We remain bullish on the foundation…