Super Bowl 2022: Bengals win would equal NFL's greatest turnarounds
The Cincinnati Bengals are the Cinderella story of the 2021 NFL season, and they have the chance to put on the glass slipper come Sunday.
After winning a combined six games between 2019 and 2020, the Bengals went from worst to first in the AFC North in 2021, winning the division with a 10-7 record en route to reaching their first Super Bowl in 33 years.
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Joe Burrow looks to become the first QB to win a CFP national championship, Heisman Trophy and Super Bowl. Emmanuel Acho explains why Burrow winning Super Bowl LVI would be the greatest NFL feat in decades.
The miraculous turnaround started with the franchise drafting Joe Burrow in 2020 with the No. 1 overall pick, followed by Ja'Marr Chase in 2021 with the No. 5 overall pick, both out of LSU.
When diving into the numbers, it's miraculous what the Bengals have accomplished in such a short period of time. In fact, only three other teams in NFL history have produced the type of "overnight" turnaround the Bengals have experienced this season.
Let's take a look at those squads as Cincy prepares to chase history in Super Bowl LVI:
1981 San Francisco 49ers
The Niners were 8-24 (.250) in the two seasons prior to their Super Bowl run at the end of the 1981-82 season. During those two losing seasons, they allowed the second-most points and the fourth-most total yards in the league. They suffered seven 10-to-19-point losses and five 20-plus-point losses, and they also committed the eighth-most turnovers in the NFL (79).
A flip switched in 1981, when San Francisco finished first in the NFC at 13-3 and went on to win the big one. The team allowed just 15.6 PPG and 297.7 YPG, both second-best in the NFL, and suffered only one 20-plus-point loss that season. The Niners also turned the ball over just 25 times, second-fewest in the league.
1992 Dallas Cowboys
From 1989-91, the Cowboys were 19-29 (.250) over three seasons. Their 16.5 points per game and 280.8 yards per game average during that span both ranked 24th in the NFL. They had 12 10-to-19-point losses and six 20-plus-point losses. The Cowboys lost 37.5% of their games by double-digits in those three years.
But in 1992-93, the ‘Boys turned it around en route to a Super Bowl win. They finished second in the NFC (13-3), put up 25.6 PPG (second in the NFL) and averaged 350.4 YPG (fourth), while allowing just 15.2 PPG (fifth) and 245.7 YPG (first). They suffered just one loss by 20 points or more, and nine of their 13 wins came by double digits.
2003 Carolina Panthers
The Panthers went 8-24 (.250) in the two seasons prior to their Super Bowl run at the end of the 2003-04 season. They were 29th in the NFL in PPG (16.0) and 31st in YPG (266.7). They suffered five 10-to-19-point losses and six 20-plus-point losses during those two seasons, and also turned the ball over 75 times, third-most in the league.
Even though they came up short against Tom Brady's New England Patriots, Carolina's run to the Super Bowl in 2004 came from out of nowhere. The Panthers finished third in the NFC at 11-5 and moved up to 15th in PPG (20.3) and 16th in YPG (321.3). They suffered only one 20-plus-point loss, but they won just two games by double digits that season.
2021 Cincinnati Bengals
From 2019-2020, the Bengals posted a 6-25-1 record for an abysmal .188 winning percentage, worse than those of the three teams listed above. Over those two seasons, the Bengals were 31st in scoring (18.7 PPG); they were one of just four teams in NFL history to average fewer than 20 points while allowing more than 25 per game (26.4). And of those 25 losses, four came by 10-19 points and eight came by 20 or more.
This season, Cincinnati's scoring has jumped to 27.1 PPG, good for seventh in the NFL, guided by Burrow's franchise-record 34 touchdown passes and 4,611 passing yards.
Though the Bengals have already put together the greatest turnaround in NFL history from a wins and losses standpoint, they still need one more W to complete their long journey back to prominence.
And their head coach, Zac Taylor, believes Burrow is the perfect guy for the job.
"He's played for state championships, he's played for national championships, now he's playing for a Super Bowl," Taylor said. "I think that's been his expectation all along. He's not surprised by it. He rises to these occasions."
The greatest Cinderella story in NFL history is potentially just days away from completion.