The Super Bowl Runner-up Jinx: Can the Cincinnati Bengals Break History?
Dylan Buell/Getty Images. Pictured: Ja’Marr Chase.
Last season, the Cincinnati Bengals had 150-1 odds to win the Super Bowl entering the preseason. That was tied with the 1999-00 Rams for the biggest longshot to make the Super Bowl since 1978.
With an upgraded offensive line, the question on everyone's mind now: Can Cincinnati climb the hill and win it all?
Back To The Ship?
In the Super Bowl era, only the 1971 Dallas Cowboys, '72 Miami Dolphins and 2018 New England Patriots have followed up a Super Bowl defeat with a Super Bowl win the following season. If you look at just making it back to the big game, only eight teams in the Super Bowl era have made it back the year after losing:
All About Wins
When it comes to win totals, the curse is real, too. Going back to 2010, none of the previous 12 teams to lose the Super Bowl won more games the following season as they did in their Super Bowl-appearance year.
On average, the Super Bowl loser won about 2.5 fewer games the following year.
Just how unlikely was the Bengals run to the Super Bowl last year … especially coming out of the AFC? Only one AFC team has made the Super Bowl with preseason conference odds above +1000 since Tom Brady and the Patriots did it back in 2001 at +2000 odds and that was last year's Bengals at +8000.
Let's Start With Week 1
In Week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers at home, the Bengals are 6.5-point home favorites. Coming off a Super Bowl loss, the hangover may be real.
Since 2000, the loser of the Super Bowl is 9-13 straight up and 4-18 against the spread in Week 1 of the following season. Cincinnati on the other hand? They enter the 2022 regular season as hot as can be against the spread, on an 8-game ATS winning streak, the longest active streak in the NFL.
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