2021 Cincinnati Bengals season

2021 Cincinnati Bengals season
OwnerMike Brown
Head coachZac Taylor
Home fieldPaul Brown Stadium
Results
Record10–7
Division place1st AFC North
Playoff finishWon Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Raiders) 26–19
Won Divisional Playoffs (at Titans) 19–16
Won AFC Championship (at Chiefs) 27–24 (OT)
Lost Super Bowl LVI (vs.[A] Rams) 20–23
Pro BowlersWR Ja'Marr Chase
RB Joe Mixon
DE Trey Hendrickson
AP All-ProsWR Ja'Marr Chase (2nd team)
Uniform

The 2021 season was the Cincinnati Bengals' 52nd season in the National Football League and their third under head coach Zac Taylor.

Draft

See the main article: 2021 NFL Draft
2021 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 5 Ja'Marr Chase *  Wide receiver LSU
2 46 Jackson Carman  Tackle Clemson from New England
3 69 Joseph Ossai  Defensive end Texas
4 111 Cameron Sample  Defensive end Tulane
4 122 Tyler Shelvin  Defensive tackle LSU from Arizona via Houston and New England
4 139 D'Ante Smith  Tackle East Carolina from New England
5 149 Evan McPherson  Kicker Florida
6 190 Trey Hill  Center Georgia
6 202 Chris Evans  Running back Michigan from Miami via Houston
7 235 Wyatt Hubert  Defensive end Kansas State from Detroit via Seattle
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Regular season

Schedule

The Bengals 2021 schedule was announced on May 12.[1]

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 12 Minnesota Vikings W 27–24 (OT) 1–0 Paul Brown Stadium Recap
2 September 19 at Chicago Bears L 17–20 1–1 Soldier Field Recap
3 September 26 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 24–10 2–1 Heinz Field Recap
4 September 30 Jacksonville Jaguars W 24–21 3–1 Paul Brown Stadium Recap
5 October 10 Green Bay Packers L 22–25 (OT) 3–2 Paul Brown Stadium Recap
6 October 17 at Detroit Lions W 34–11 4–2 Ford Field Recap
7 October 24 at Baltimore Ravens W 41–17 5–2 M&T Bank Stadium Recap
8 October 31 at New York Jets L 31–34 5–3 MetLife Stadium Recap
9 November 7 Cleveland Browns L 16–41 5–4 Paul Brown Stadium Recap
10 Bye
11 November 21 at Las Vegas Raiders W 32–13 6–4 Allegiant Stadium Recap
12 November 28 Pittsburgh Steelers W 41–10 7–4 Paul Brown Stadium Recap
13 December 5 Los Angeles Chargers L 22–41 7–5 Paul Brown Stadium Recap
14 December 12 San Francisco 49ers L 23–26 (OT) 7–6 Paul Brown Stadium Recap
15 December 19 at Denver Broncos W 15–10 8–6 Empower Field at Mile High Recap
16 December 26 Baltimore Ravens W 41–21 9–6 Paul Brown Stadium Recap
17 January 2 Kansas City Chiefs W 34–31 10–6 Paul Brown Stadium Recap
18 January 9 at Cleveland Browns L 16–21 10–7 FirstEnergy Stadium Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Division

AFC North
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(4) Cincinnati Bengals 10 7 0 .588 4–2 8–4 460 376 L1
(7) Pittsburgh Steelers 9 7 1 .559 4–2 7–5 343 398 W2
Cleveland Browns 8 9 0 .471 3–3 5–7 349 371 W1
Baltimore Ravens 8 9 0 .471 1–5 5–7 387 392 L6

Conference

AFC
# Team Division W L T PCT DIV CONF SOS SOV STK
Division winners
1[a] Tennessee Titans South 12 5 0 .706 5–1 8–4 .472 .480 W3
2[a] Kansas City Chiefs West 12 5 0 .706 5–1 7–5 .538 .517 W1
3 Buffalo Bills East 11 6 0 .647 5–1 7–5 .472 .428 W4
4 Cincinnati Bengals North 10 7 0 .588 4–2 8–4 .472 .462 L1
Wild cards
5[b] Las Vegas Raiders West 10 7 0 .588 3–3 8–4 .510 .515 W4
6[b] New England Patriots East 10 7 0 .588 3–3 8–4 .481 .394 L1
7 Pittsburgh Steelers North 9 7 1 .559 4–2 7–5 .521 .490 W2
Did not qualify for the postseason
8[c] Indianapolis Colts South 9 8 0 .529 3–3 7–5 .495 .431 L2
9[c][d] Miami Dolphins East 9 8 0 .529 4–2 6–6 .464 .379 W1
10[c][d] Los Angeles Chargers West 9 8 0 .529 3–3 6–6 .510 .500 L1
11[e] Cleveland Browns North 8 9 0 .471 3–3 5–7 .514 .415 W1
12[e] Baltimore Ravens North 8 9 0 .471 1–5 5–7 .531 .460 L6
13 Denver Broncos West 7 10 0 .412 1–5 3–9 .484 .357 L4
14[f] New York Jets East 4 13 0 .235 0–6 4–8 .512 .426 L2
15[f] Houston Texans South 4 13 0 .235 3–3 4–8 .498 .397 L2
16 Jacksonville Jaguars South 3 14 0 .176 1–5 3–9 .512 .569 W1
Tiebreakers[g]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tennessee finished ahead of Kansas City based on head-to-head victory.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Las Vegas finished ahead of New England based on win percentage in common games.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Indianapolis finished ahead of Miami and Los Angeles based on conference record.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Miami finished ahead of LA Chargers based on win percentage in common games.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cleveland finished ahead of Baltimore based on division record.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 NY Jets finished ahead of Houston based on head-to-head victory.
  7. ↑ When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.

Postseason

See also: 2021–22 NFL playoffs

Schedule

Round Date Time (EST) Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue TV Recap
Wild Card January 15 4:35 p.m. Las Vegas Raiders (5) W 26–19 1–0 Paul Brown Stadium NBC Recap
Divisional January 22 4:35 p.m. at Tennessee Titans (1) W 19–16 2–0 Nissan Stadium CBS Recap
AFC Championship January 30 3:05 p.m. at Kansas City Chiefs (2) W 27–24 (OT) 3–0 Arrowhead Stadium CBS Recap
Super Bowl LVI February 13 6:30 p.m. vs.[A] Los Angeles Rams (N4) SoFi Stadium NBC

References

  1. ↑ @Bengals (12 May 2021). "Week 1 AT HOME" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Despite being played in the Rams home stadium, the Super Bowl is still officially considered a neutral site game.