Cincinnati Bengals director of personnel and de-facto general manager Duke Tobin noted the team's absence from the playoffs. His comments highlighted the perceived apprehension other NFL teams had about facing Cincinnati in the postseason.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Enquirer at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, on Wednesday, Tobin broke his six-month media silence. His last public comments came at the Bengals' media luncheon in July.
"We have a team that could have won the championship this year had we finished games and we didn't," he said. "And so we own our record, and that's what we were, I can tell you, nobody really wanted to face us at the end of the year if we were in the playoffs. That's the respect we have from the rest of the league. That wasn't something that they wanted."


Looking to predict NFL playoff Scenarios? Try our NFL Playoff Predictor for real-time simulations and stay ahead of the game!
The comments seemingly signal how the Bengals' 2024 season ended. They needed the Chiefs to win over Denver in Week 18 to maintain playoff hopes. Kansas City, having secured the No. 1 seed, rested their starters in a 38-0 loss to Denver, effectively ending Cincinnati's season. There was speculation that the Chiefs did this on purpose.
Missed opportunities of the Bengals in 2024

The Bengals finished 2024 with the NFL's third-highest payroll. They retained much of their Super Bowl defensive core, including three starting defensive linemen and both starting linebackers.
Duke Tobin pointed to the team's ability to compete with every opponent they faced.
"We never played a team that we couldn't beat or didn't have beat at some point. We got into a one play scenario to win the game, and we did things that kept us from winning," he said.
The statistics support his stance.
The Bengals weren't routinely overwhelmed - they consistently played close games. Even in their season opener against New England, despite a subpar performance, they had opportunities to secure victory.
This pattern of narrow losses proved costly. The defense struggled to generate pressure, managing zero sacks from their linebackers in 2024. Key defensive draft picks since 2021 haven't produced as expected - nine of their 13 picks in the first three rounds were defensive players.
The contrast with successful teams is stark. The Chiefs have five of six defensive players drafted in rounds 1-3 since 2021 as current starters. Eagles boast eight of 10 defensive players from the same period as starters.
Cincinnati's missed opportunities included passing on players like Eagles' edge rusher Nolan Smith, who set a franchise postseason record with four playoff sacks. Meanwhile, their 2023 first-round pick, Myles Murphy, recorded zero sacks in his second season.
These personnel decisions now lead to what Tobin describes as necessary defensive retooling.
With critical contract decisions looming for stars Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, the Bengals face a pivotal offseason in maintaining their competitive edge.
Bengals Nation! Check out the latest Cincinnati Bengals Schedule and dive into the Bengals Depth Chart for NFL Season 2024-25.