The Bengals opened the season with a 17-16 win over the Cleveland Browns, and since then, they’ve given up 27, 48, 28, 37, 27, 31, 39, 47, and 34 points over the next nine weeks, which averages out to just over 35 points per game given up. In 2024, the Bengals gave up 25.5 points per game and fired Lou Anarumo after they were held out of the playoffs.
Over the last nine weeks, the Bengals have been giving up 10 more points per game, and with the Patriots, Ravens, Bills, and Ravens again—all of whom are averaging at least 25 points per game—there isn’t a clear end in sight. So, it’s possible the 2025 Bengals, under Zac Taylor and Al Golden, may have the worst 10-game stretch of defensive performances in NFL history.
That record, by the way, which the Chargers tied back in 2020, was 100 years old when it was tied. That record was set in 1920, before the first Super Bowl and before the merger. So, if the Bengals do break the record by giving up more than 27 points to the Patriots (who average 26.5 so far in 2025) in Week 12, they’ll stand alone, breaking a record more than a century old.
We should all be so proud.