Before receiver Ja’Marr Chase’s arrival, the Cincinnati Bengals may have been the N.F.L.’s most inconsequential franchise.
The Bengals have a reputation as the football equivalent of a mom-and-pop corner hardware store operating on a shoestring budget. Their state-of-the-mid-20th-century fitness facility features five military surplus weight benches and a garden hose for hydration. Their practice field yields alfalfa in the off-season. Their scouting department consists of unpaid interns and a box of VHS tapes of Ohio State games. Trade requests go straight to their answering machine.
These are exaggerations, but you get the idea.
The pinnacle of the Bengals’ success over the last 30 years was a string of five consecutive wild-card-round losses under Coach Marvin Lewis and quarterback Andy Dalton from 2011 to 2015.