CINCINNATI, Ohio — Only a few days after the end of the 2025 season, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin was still disappointed in one problem his team has had the last couple of seasons.

Sitting before the Cincinnati media in a Friday press conference, the Bengals’ director of player personnel didn’t hide his emotions when asked about the team’s maddening pattern of losing close games.

“It irritates me. It really irritates me,” Tobin said. “You have to find ways to close games. And that has been our number one problem is when it comes time to close the game, we haven’t closed it.”

This is more than just a passing annoyance. This is a man who feels the weight of 12 one-score losses over the past two seasons – defeats that turned potential playoff runs into bitter disappointments. For a franchise five years removed from a Super Bowl appearance, the inability to finish games has become a defining, infuriating characteristic.

Tobin doesn’t dance around the issue. While some executives might offer vague platitudes about “getting better” or “working hard,” he delivers a clinical diagnosis of exactly what’s plaguing Cincinnati.

“The last two seasons have been derailed by critical moment execution errors, and we have to find the group of 11 to put out there that will execute in the critical moments,” Tobin states plainly, identifying the root cause that has transformed a potential dynasty into a team watching the playoffs from home.

What makes these failures particularly maddening is how close the Bengals have been. These weren’t blowouts. They weren’t games where Cincinnati was clearly outmatched. These were winnable contests that slipped away in the final moments.

Tobin particularly singled out Sunday’s 20-18 loss to the Browns in the season finale as an example. Despite scoring a go-ahead touchdown with 1:29 remaining, the Bengals gave up a late drive that allowed Browns kicker Andre Szmyt to kick a game-winning 49-yard field goal as time expired.

“The defense goes out there and really pitches one of the finest games you could have. And instead, the offense gives 14 points up and we lose the game,” Tobin explains. “And so there has to be some complementary football in there.”

But identifying the problem is only half the battle. What’s Tobin’s solution? Nothing short of a complete transformation of the team’s mentality in high-pressure situations.

“We have to get to the point where that focus, strain and finish is in our DNA, and our players have to understand that, on this snap, I’m playing the right technique, I’m not doing my own thing,” Tobin demands, outlining his vision for the cultural shift needed. “We’ve just had a mistake, 1 of 11 or 2 of 11, have catastrophic results for our win-loss record.”

This isn’t just about talent – Cincinnati has plenty of that. It’s about execution when it matters most. It’s about mental toughness. It’s about finishing.

As the offseason begins, Tobin’s impassioned critique sets the tone for what promises to be a period of intense reflection and potentially significant changes. The message is clear: the status quo is unacceptable, and while the team has shown flashes of brilliance, those flashes mean nothing if they can’t execute in the game’s decisive moments.