It was a magical run in 2021 for the Cincinnati Bengals, which was capped by a berth in Los Angeles for the Super Bowl. Joe Burrow was phenomenal in his second season, and Ja’Marr Chase was a key piece to elevate the passing game. The defense played inspiring football and made huge plays throughout the run, including picking off Ryan Tannehill thrice and Patrick Mahomes in overtime in the AFC title game. The one key ingredient missing, that many NFL and draft analysts alike kept harping on, reared its ugly head. Even after surviving nine sacks in the divisional round, Aaron Donald and the Rams pass rush got to the Bengals enough, capped by Aaron Donald sealing the deal by pressuring Burrow on fourth down. The Bengals made serious investments along the offensive line in free agency as soon as they could. They got Alex Cappa to be a starting guard. Cincinnati added Ted Karras to potentially start at center, or at the very least be a great backup for Trey Hill. The Bengals finished it up by getting La’El Collins to be their starting right tackle, a position that was a major weakness after Riley Reiff went down.
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