FRIDAY FEATURE: How Cincinnati Bengals have gone from the worst team in the NFL to on the brink of their first Super Bowl title

Following the conclusion of the 2018 season, the Cincinnati Bengals parted ways with long-time head coach Marvin Lewis after three-straight losing seasons.

Lewis had been the head coach in Cincinnati since 2003 and despite leading the Bengals to the play-offs seven times during his tenure, he never guided his team to a win in the post-season.

With the Bengals in a slump under Lewis, a fresh face was needed to help turn their fortunes around.

They opted for a young head coach to replace Lewis, announcing Zac Taylor as the 10th head coach in franchise history in 2019.

He had spent the previous two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, where he was quarterbacks coach during the 2018 season, the year that the Rams lost Super Bowl LIII to the New England Patriots.

Aged 35 when hired, Taylor was the second-youngest head coach in the league at the time, just behind his former boss, Sean McVay, who was 33.

Cincinnati Bengals’ 2019-20 season

In 2019, the Bengals struggled to win games and starting quarterback Andy Dalton was dropped following an 0-8 start to the season.

Dalton was replaced by rookie quarterback Ryan Finley, a fourth-round selection by the Bengals in the 2019 draft out of North Carolina State.

Finley made his first NFL start in week 10 of the 2019 season and threw for 167 yards, one touchdown and an interception as Cincinnati were thrashed 49-13 by the Baltimore Ravens.

The rookie continued to struggle in the following two weeks as another two defeats left Cincinnati winless in their first 11 games under Taylor.

Following the third-straight defeat with Finley as their quarterback, Taylor reinstated Dalton as the starter for their week 13 game against the New York Jets.

Dalton guided Cincinnati to their first win of the season with a comfortable 22-6 victory over the Jets.

The Bengals would win one more game in 2019, a 33-23 win against the Cleveland Browns in the final week of the regular season, to improve their record to 2-14.

Recruiting Joe Burrow with the No 1 pick in the 2020 NFL draft

Due to their dismal record in 2019, the Bengals owned the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft.

There was little doubt who the Bengals were going to select with the No 1 pick: Joe Burrow was the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, following a hugely impressive season at Louisiana State University.

With a new quarterback in place for the long-term future, Andy Dalton was released by the Bengals following nine seasons with the team.

In the second round of the 2020 draft, the Bengals selected Tee Higgins from Clemson University, a wide receiver to pair up with their new franchise quarterback.

As is the case in any sport, rebuilding teams will usually take time to find consistency and the 2020 Bengals were no different.

Burrow got the first win over his NFL career in week four of the 2020 season, with a 33-25 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The week before the Jacksonville win, Cincinnati tied 23-23 with the Philadelphia Eagles, meaning their record after four games was 1-2-1.

The Bengals would lose their next three games, but two of those defeats were very narrow, with a 31-27 defeat by the Indianapolis Colts and a 37-34 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

Both the Colts and the Browns made the play-offs in the 2020 season, so the Bengals could take some pride in the fact they ran those two teams so close.

The following week saw Cincinnati defeat another team that were on their way to the play-offs, when they comfortably beat the Tennessee Titans at home.

Burrow’s knee injury

In the third quarter of a week 11 game against the Washington Football Team, quarterback Burrow was carted off the field with a leg injury.

It was later revealed that Burrow had torn his ACL and MCL, which meant he would be out for the remainder of the season.

Despite the 2-7-1 record with Burrow, the signs were there that Cincinnati had their quarterback of the future.

The roster around Burrow wasn’t the most talented and he was keeping them close in games they weren’t expected to win.

Cincinnati finished the 2020 season bottom of the AFC North and their three divisional rivals all made the play-offs.

Cincinnati draft Ja’Marr Chase in the 2021 draft

Cincinnati’s 4-11-1 record in 2020 meant that they would have the fifth overall selection in the first round of the 2021 draft.

They used that fifth pick to select Burrow’s former college team-mate Ja’Marr Chase, another hugely talented wide receiver.

The pre-draft debate was between picking Chase, a player Burrow was already familiar with, or picking Oregon’s Penei Sewell, an offensive tackle who could help protect Burrow and help prevent further injuries.

By the end of September, the Bengals had no regrets on their decision to pair Burrow with Chase once again.

Chase won the NFL Rookie of the Month award for September and became the youngest player in NFL history to catch four touchdown passes in his first three career games.

After four games, Cincinnati’s record was 3-1, with their only loss coming at Soldier Field in a 20-17 defeat by the Chicago Bears.

Week five saw the youthful Burrow and his Bengals team take on the veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.

Green Bay would go on to win 25-22 in overtime, but the game once again highlighted that Cincinnati could play well against the best teams in the league.

When the Bengals comfortably beat the Baltimore Ravens 41-17 in week seven, they moved to 5-2 on the season.

However, a disappointing defeat by the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium was followed by a crushing 41-16 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

The Bengals split their next four games following their bye week in week 10 of the season.

Three-straight wins followed, including an incredible comeback win at home to the Kansas City Chiefs in week 17, which saw the Bengals come from behind to win against one of the best teams in the league.

Chase set multiple records in this game, with 11 catches for 266 yards and three touchdowns.

This broke Cincinnati’s franchise record for receiving yards in a game as well as the NFL’s rookie record for most receiving yards in a game.

The win also clinched the AFC North title for the Bengals for the first time since the 2015 season.

Burrow breaking Bengals records

Burrow was beginning to record incredible numbers too; in week 16 he had one of the most prolific passing days in NFL history with a whopping 525 yards and four touchdowns against the Baltimore Ravens.

Once again, this was a franchise record and, in the division clinching game against Kansas City a week later, he was just as good, with another 446 yards and four touchdowns.

The regular season ended with Cincinnati finishing 10-7 and looking like a team capable of a deep play-off run.

In the Wild Card round, the Bengals defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 26-19, which set up a trip to Nashville to take on the No 1 seed in the AFC, the Tennessee Titans.

It was a close game between two well-matched teams that went right down to the wire, with Cincinnati’s kicker Evan McPherson converting a 52-yard field goal as time expired.

The kick secured a 19-16 win for the Bengals and their place in the AFC Championship game, where they would meet the Kansas City Chiefs for the second time in January.

This time the game would be played in Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium, and it would be even more dramatic than the regular season meeting.

In the second quarter, the game looked as if it may be all but over when Kansas City raced out to a 21-3 lead.

The Bengals reduced the lead to 21-10 just before the half and their defence held strong as the Chiefs failed to increase their advantage before the break.

Cincinnati would need another comeback against the Chiefs to reach the Super Bowl and by the end of the third quarter, the game was tied.

Evan McPherson was as reliable as ever to reduce the lead to 21-13, before Burrow and Chase connected once again in the playoffs to give the Bengals an opportunity to tie the game.

Burrow’s pass found Trent Taylor for a two-point conversion that tied the game at 21-21.

In the fourth quarter, Cincinnati took their first lead of the game thanks to another field goal with 6:04 remaining.

The Chiefs responded with a last gasp field goal to send the game into overtime.

The Arrowhead crowd roared as the Chiefs won the coin toss and the home team would receive the ball first in overtime.

Statistically the odds were against Cincinnati, with 10 of the 11 play-off games to reach overtime under the current rules being won by the winner of the coin toss.

Unlike Buffalo a week earlier, the Bengals defence were able to get the Chiefs offense off the field in overtime.

Vonn Bell intercepted a Patrick Mahomes pass early on in overtime to put Cincinnati in prime position to reach the Super Bowl.

The Bengals offence moved the ball into comfortable field goal range for McPherson, who nailed the 31-yard field goal to send Cincinnati to the Super Bowl in dramatic circumstances.

Focus turns to making history against LA Rams at Super Bowl LVI

Long-term NFL fans will remember the two Super Bowl’s that the Bengals were in, having lost both Super Bowl XVI and Super Bowl XXIII to the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s.

After Cincinnati won the AFC Championship game, attention turned to who they would face in Super Bowl LVI.

Ironically the 49ers were a game away from the Super Bowl once again, but they lost out to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship game.

For Zac Taylor, it will mean a reunion with his former team on their home turf.

The Bengals have defied the odds all the way to the Super Bowl and will be the underdogs once again when they play the Rams.

The quick turnaround in Cincinnati will offer hope to struggling teams that there are brighter days ahead.

It also highlights the importance of drafting well when you get a high draft pick, with Burrow and Chase having undoubtedly played a key role in Cincinnati’s resurgence.

Within just a few seasons, the Bengals have gone from the worst team in the NFL, to a team that is now within touching distance of a historic Super Bowl title.