On the strength of one of the NFL's most talented young rosters, third-year head coach Zac Taylor and the Bengals enjoyed one of the most successful runs in team history, cruising to a 10-7 record, AFC North title, AFC Championship and berth in Super Bowl LVI. It was the second consecutive season played under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, which continued to circle and affect the entire globe. The league's pandemic protocols remained in effect throughout the entirety of the 2021 season, but were loosened for teams and fans who were fully vaccinated. In April, the Bengals announced the formation of a Ring of Honor to display inside Paul Brown Stadium, with team founder Paul Brown and Pro Football Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz as the first two members, who were later joined by, as voted by season ticket holders, both QB Ken Anderson and CB Ken Riley. The ROH was unveiled to fans during a halftime ceremony of Game 4 vs. Jacksonville. The team also unveiled new team uniforms in April, updating the striping on the various color options of the jersey and pants while keeping the team's iconic helmet design intact. It was the first major uniform change since 2004, and the fourth significant uniform redesign in team history. With regard to the roster, the Bengals assembled a collection of new players who proved to be key in the team's run to the Super Bowl. While the team said goodbye to a number of notable veterans — including two of the most celebrated Bengals ever in DT Geno Atkins (released) and WR A.J. Green (signed with Arizona as a UFA) — it began the new league year actively involved in free agency, signing many significant new players, particularly on defense. That list included DE Trey Hendrickson and DT Larry Ogunjobi, as well as CBs Chidobe Awuzie, Eli Apple and Mike Hilton. In the draft, the team added first-round WR Ja'Marr Chase (fifth overall) and fifth-round K Evan McPherson, who both proved to be key additions that were fundamental to the team's successful season. And via trade, the Bengals also acquired DT B.J. Hill from the N.Y. Giants. Second-year QB Joe Burrow posted new team records for passing yardage (4611), passing TDs (34) and passer rating (108.3) en route to being named the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year. His 525 passing yards on Dec. 26 set a new team record, breaking Boomer Esiason's longtime mark of 490, which was set 31 seasons earlier in 1990. Burrow's primary target was Chase, who had teamed with him in college to win a national championship at Louisiana State University in 2019. Chase put together arguably the top NFL rookie season ever by a WR en route to earning the Associated Press NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. He caught 81 passes for 1455 yards and 13 TDs during the regular season. The receiving yards total established a new team record and was the most ever by an NFL rookie in the Super Bowl era, and his 1734 combined receiving yards in both the regular season and postseason counted as the most ever by an NFL rookie. He set a new team record for most receiving yards in a game with 266 on Jan. 2 vs. Kansas City. With the Bengals, Chase teamed with second-year WR Tee Higgins (74 catches for 1091 yards and six TDs) and sixth-year slot WR Tyler Boyd (67 for 828 and five) to form one of the NFL's most productive receiving trios. Fifth-year HB Joe Mixon proved to be one of the NFL's top RBs, posting career-highs in rushing yardage (1205) and total TDs (16), while seventh-year TE C.J. Uzomah, the longest-tenured Bengal on offense, also had a career season with 49 catches for 493 yards and five TDs. Cincinnati's defense showed significant improvement thanks to the new faces and returning veterans. Hendrickson recorded the second-most sacks (14) in team history while bookend DE and Cincinnati native Sam Hubbard added another 7.5. At NT, 347-pound D.J. Reader returned after his first Bengals season was cut short by injury, and he helped Cincinnati's 2021 run defense improve 24 spots over the '20 squad. Ogunjobi and Hill rotated next to Reader and combined for 12.5 sacks. Second-year pro Logan Wilson made the leap from 2020 rotational player to one of the NFL's top young LBs, leading the team both total tackles (98) and interceptions (four). Logan's four INTs also tied for the NFL lead among LBs, and counted as the most by a Bengals LB in 16 years. The secondary was led by a pair of team captains at S in Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates III, who combined for three key INTs and a sack during the Bengals' playoff run, while all three of Cincinnati's starting CBs were new to the team in 2021 — Apple, Awuzie and Hilton — and each had a pair of INTs. On special teams, the celebrity of the year was McPherson, a 22- year-old rookie whose leg strength and reliability under pressure turned him into an immediate fan favorite. McPherson's nine FGs of 50 or more yards during the regular season was just one shy of tying the NFL single-season record of 10, and enough to set a new team career record. He also became the only kicker in team history to convert three FGs of 50 or more yards in a game, and he hit five game-winning "walk-off" FGs as a rookie, including two in postseason. On Dec. 19 at Denver, McPherson set a new team record for longest FG in team history when he converted a 58-yarder. The Bengals recorded their first postseason victory since the 1990 season when they won a Wild Card Playoff vs. the Las Vegas Raiders in front of a record crowd of 66,277 at Paul Brown Stadium. The team followed that win with road victories at the No. 1-seed Tennessee Titans and the No. 2-seed Kansas City Chiefs to win the AFC Championship and secure a berth in Super Bowl LVI. The Super Bowl was played against the L.A. Rams on their home field at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., however Cincinnati was listed as the home team. The Bengals fell behind 13-3 early in the second quarter, but closed the gap to take the lead on the first play of the second half with a 75-yard TD pass from Burrow to Higgins that counted as the longest play from scrimmage in Bengals postseason history. Cincinnati stretched its lead to seven, but L.A.'s defense stood strong. A TD by WR Cooper Kupp gave the Rams a three-point lead with 1:25 remaining, and the Bengals' attempt to tie or win ended on a fourth-and-one at midfield when Burrow threw an incomplete pass while being tackled. Shortly after the Super Bowl, the NFL and the NFLPA jointly announced that they had suspended all COVID-19 protocols going into the new 2022 league year.
