Talk is cheap in training camp. There's a degree of rose-colored glasses — beer goggles if you're nasty — optimism coming from all 32 teams. Every Cincinnati Bengals fan wants to believe that there's no way Joe Burrow will allow the team to miss the playoffs yet again.
Problem is, much of the Bengals' fate in 2025 is out of Burrow's very capable hands, right arm, legs, and football quantum computer brain. We saw last year that even an MVP-level season from Burrow can, in rare instances, not be enough to guarantee a postseason berth.
As long as Burrow is healthy, Cincinnati's playoff hopes are very much alive.