The 2024 NFL season is now deep into the playoffs, and the league’s heavy hitters are battling it out for Super Bowl glory. But for some, a campaign that promised so much turned into a bitter disappointment.
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals entered the 2024 season as a team to beat in the AFC. But while their fellow heavyweights such as the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, and Buffalo Bills are all featuring prominently in the postseason, Cincy failed to make it at all. Online Super Bowl odds makers have made the former of that trio the 10/3 second favourites to win the Lombardi this term, a triumph that would complete a history-making three-peat.
But over in Ohio, the Cincinnati faithful will have to watch on wondering what might have been. Something that’s made all the more painful by their divisional rival Ravens still in action, with websites offering betting on American football making them a 9/2 contender for glory as well.
Cincy’s failure to reach the playoffs has been made all the more baffling by the fact that their superstars all delivered the goods this term. Quarterback Joe Burrow proved that he is a genuine top-three QB in the league, topping the entire NFL in terms of throwing yards and touchdowns. Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase completed the receiving triple crown, topping the league in terms of receiving yards, receptions, and touchdowns. Trey Hendrickson even finished the campaign with the most sacks, but still, it wasn’t enough.
Their problem this year lay in their defence. The Bengals allowed some 434 points this season, the seventh worst in the entire league. They scored over 30 points on eight separate occasions this term but lost four of them. Six of their eight losses came by less than one score, including late field goal heartbreak against both the Chiefs and the Ravens.
Cincinnati did almost squeeze their way into the postseason. They ended the campaign with five straight victories to give them a fighting chance on the final day. Unfortunately for them, Andy Reid decided to rest all his starters against the Broncos on week 18, practically handing the seventh seed to Denver at the Bengals’ expense.
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New York Jets
The New York Jets came into the season with enormous hype, primarily thanks to the return to fitness of quarterback Aaron Rodgers following a season – and potentially career-ending Achilles injury suffered in his Big Apple debut in 2023. But despite the four-time MVP winner starting under centre, things quickly unravelled.
After two victories in their three games, it looked like an end to the longest postseason drought in the league could come to an end. However, the writing was on the wall following a 10-9 home defeat to the Broncos on week four in which A-Rod and the Jets offense looked more impotent than ever. The defeats began to pile up, and not even the addition of superstar receiver Davante Adams – Rodgers’ friend and former primary target in Green Bay – could stem the tide.
Head coach Robert Saleh was fired just five games into the season after a 2-3 start. Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich led the team to a potentially season-saving victory against the Houston Texans in his first game in charge, but that was as good as it got. The Jets ended with a 6-11 record, missing the playoffs yet again and stretching their postseason drought to an alarming 13 years—the longest active streak in the league.
At least a final-day victory against the Miami Dolphins stopped their divisional rivals from reaching the playoffs, something to build upon for next season. Whether that is with or without the iconic Rodgers though remains to be seen.