Hype about a Bengals second-half run continues to grow

A year ago, the Cincinnati Bengals hit the bye week at 5-4 and despite flashes of contention-level play, two losses in a row threw the team’s playoff chances into murky waters.

But those Bengals rebounded en route to the Super Bowl and have to hope it’s a similar story in 2022.

The Bengals are again at 5-4 during the bye week. They’ve lost for some silly reasons (injured long-snapper) and to middling quarterbacks (a handful), yet their offensive outbursts, especially recently, have caught the eye of most.

Add in the fact the team should get big-hitters like DJ Reader and Ja’Marr Chase sooner rather than later and the result is hype-worthy things like this:

Spoke to an NFC exec and asked him to give us a few teams that could make a run: “I’d watch the #Bengals and #Jets.” Said Burrow is getting hot and will get Chase back soon. On NYJ: said they are legit and no offense in football wants to see that #Jets defense.

— uSTADIUM (@uSTADIUM) November 12, 2022

Granted, that’s pretty vague. But overall, one doesn’t have to look online far to find fans, analysts or otherwise who think the Bengals have a good shot at going on a big run.

Easier said than done considering they have to play the AFC North slate again, plus teams like Tennessee, Kansas City and Buffalo. But we’ve seen it before already, the proverbial stars seem to be aligning with performance and health and, for whatever it’s worth, the Bengals beat the Jets already.

There’s nothing easy about a second-half run, but the sense of deja vu is certainly justified.