2021 Cincinnati Bengals season
The 2021 season was the Cincinnati Bengals' 52nd season in the National Football League, their 54th overall and their third under head coach Zac Taylor. They also played in new uniforms for the first time since 2004. The Bengals finished with a 10–7 record, exceeding their win total from the previous two seasons combined. The Bengals clinched their first winning season, first playoff appearance, and first AFC North title since 2015. It also marked their first Super Bowl appearance since 1988.
The Bengals began their playoff run by defeating the [2021 2021 Las Vegas Raiders season|Las Vegas Raiders season|Las Vegas Raiders] 26–19 in the wild-card round, winning their first playoff game since 1990, and ending what was the NFL's longest playoff win drought. They beat the top-seeded [2021 2021 Tennessee Titans season|Tennessee Titans season|Tennessee Titans] 19–16 in the divisional round, which not only marked their first-ever playoff win on the road but also allowed them to advance to the AFC Championship game for the first time since 1988. They defeated the second-seeded [2021 2021 Kansas City Chiefs season|Kansas City Chiefs season|Kansas City Chiefs] 27–24 in overtime. As a result, they advanced to Super Bowl LVI, their third Super Bowl in franchise history and first in 33 years. Quarterback Joe Burrow became the first second-year quarterback since Russell Wilson in 2013 to reach a Super Bowl, and the first No. 1-picked QB to do so within their first two seasons. However, the Bengals lost to the [2021 2021 Los Angeles Rams season|Los Angeles Rams season|Los Angeles Rams] in the Super Bowl 23–20.
For the first time since 2010, A. J. Green was not on the opening day roster.
Offseason
Trades
- March 19 – Quarterback Ryan Finley and the Bengals' 2021 seventh-round selection were traded to the Houston Texans for the Texans' 2021 sixth-round selection.
- August 30 – Center Billy Price was traded to the New York Giants for defensive tackle B.J. Hill.
Draft
Trades- Seattle traded center B. J. Finney and Detroit's seventh-round selection to Cincinnati for defensive end Carlos Dunlap.
- Cincinnati traded Ryan Finley and seventh round selection to the Houston Texans in exchange for a sixth-round selection.
- Cincinnati traded their second-round selection to the New England Patriots in exchange for the Patriots second-round selection and two fourth-round selections.
Undrafted free agents
The Bengals announced their Undrafted free agent class on May 14.| Player | Position | College | Date | Cut |
| Pooka Williams Jr. | RB | [2020 2020 Kansas Jayhawks football team|Kansas Jayhawks football team|Kansas] | May 14 | August 31 |
| Pro Wells | TE | TCU | May 14 | August 16 |
| Antonio Phillips | CB | Ball State | May 14 | August 31 |
| Darius Hodge | DE | Marshall | May 14 | |
| Riley Lees | WR | Northwestern | May 14 | August 16 |
| Drue Chrisman | P | Ohio State | May 14 | August 31 |
| Gunnar Vogel | OT | Northwestern | July 27 | August 31 |
NFL Top 100
| Rank | Player | Position | Change |
| 73 | Trey Hendrickson | DE | N/A |
| 90 | Jessie Bates | FS | N/A |
Preseason
The Bengals' preseason opponents and schedule were announced on May 12.| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 19–14 | 1–0 | Raymond James Stadium | ||
| 2 | at Washington Football Team | L 13–17 | 1–1 | FedExField | ||
| 3 | August 29 | Miami Dolphins | L 26–29 | 1–2 | Paul Brown Stadium |
Regular season
Schedule
The Bengals 2021 schedule was announced on May 12.Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 3: at Pittsburgh Steelers
This was Cincinnati's first win in Pittsburgh since 2015.Week 4: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
The Bengals improved to 3–1 for the first time since 2018 with this win, despite only taking the lead with 4 seconds left in the game on a game winning Evan McPherson field goal. Burrow was recognized as the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in this game, in which he completed 25 out of 32 passes for a total of 348 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, posting a 132.8 passer rating.Week 12: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
With the win, the Bengals improved to 7–4 and swept the Steelers for the first time since 2009.Week 16: vs. Baltimore Ravens
With the win this marked the first time since 2015 that the Bengals swept the Ravens.Week 17: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
With the win, the Bengals clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2015, and won their first AFC North title since 2015 as well.Week 18: at Cleveland Browns
With the loss, the Bengals finished the regular season at 10–7 and were swept by the Browns in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1994 and 1995.Postseason
Game summaries
AFC Wild Card Playoffs: vs. (5) Las Vegas Raiders
With the win, the Bengals won their first playoff game since January 6, 1991.AFC Divisional Playoffs: at (1) Tennessee Titans
This was the first time in franchise history that the Bengals won a playoff game on the road.AFC Championship: at (2) Kansas City Chiefs
Cincinnati's 18-point comeback matched a record previously set by 2006 Indianapolis Colts.Statistics
Team
| Category | Total yards | Yards per game | NFL rank |
| Passing offense | 4,403 | 259.0 | 7th |
| Rushing offense | 1,742 | 102.5 | 23rd |
| Total offense | 6,145 | 361.5 | 13th |
| Passing defense | 4,222 | 248.4 | 26th |
| Rushing defense | 1,742 | 102.5 | 5th |
| Total defense | 5,964 | 350.8 | 18th |