The Cincinnati Bengals are not a serious organization. That's not exactly a bold statement. Despite Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase leading the team to a Super Bowl and AFC Championship appearance in 2021 and 2022, they've proven in incapable of putting together a team that can succeed. Worse still, they've stolen the joy from Burrow enough that he's starting to sound like Andrew Luck before his early retirement. They also appear committed to making the Bengals fan experience as unpleasant as possible.
Fans in Cincinnati already have to deal with endless stretches of mediocrity and disappointment. Every time they've had a star quarterback, they've had to watch in horror as he's gotten injured. And they've had to turn up to watch football games in what is consistently ranked one of the worst stadiums in the NFL.
On Sunday, they got to watch a 24-0 blowout in that stadium on snow covered seats the organization couldn't be bothered to clear off.
As Pro Football Network pointed out, it's an NFL rule that teams clear away snow from their stadiums — including seats. The Bengals were content with just clearing the aisles, leaving fans to clear their seats themselves.
Burrow has a lot of football reasons to run away from Cincinnati, but the organization keeps giving him off-the-field reasons to distrust their commitment to excellence. It's a relatively small thing, but it says a lot. The Bengals aren't interested in getting the little things right. What makes anyone assume they can get the big ones, right? They're very, very lucky Burrow hasn't requested a trade.
No one in Cincinnati is having run right now
As a diehard Cincinnati sports fan, I will never forgive the Bengals for wasting Joe Burrow's career. Truth is nothing has changed. The Super Bowl run was a dream come true. But this franchise has failed to build a winner since. It's so damn sad. Fans deserve better. Who Dey.
— Brandon Saho (@BrandonSaho) December 14, 2025
Burrow told the media last week, "If I want to keep doing this, I have to have fun doing it." The very next game was a joyless 24-0 pounding at the hands of a division rival. The Ravens averaged 7.9 yards per rush. Burrow threw two interceptions and took three sacks. The Bengals were eliminated from the playoffs with their first shutout since 2017. It was Burrow's first shutout in his NFL career.
Nothing about Sunday was fun for anyone who plays for or supports the Bengals. It was pure football misery, played in 10-degree weather.
If Burrow wants to find his joy in the game, he's likely going to need to leave Cincinnati. Unfortunately, that would mean abandoning the 60,000 or so fans who spent their Sunday freezing their butts off on seats they'd paid hard-earned money for, still wet from snow to watch their team being shoved into a locker. The quarterback can leave for greener pastures. Bengals fans are stuck.