The Cincinnati Bengals franchise was founded in 1968 as a member of the West division of the American Football League (AFL). The Bengals joined the National Football League (NFL) as a result of the AFL–NFL merger before . This list documents the franchise's completed seasons from 1968 to present, including postseason records and results from postseason games.Note: The Finish, Wins, Losses, and Ties columns list can only regularity season game results and exclude any postseason play records. Regular and postseason records are combined only at the bottom of the list. The Bengals have played over 850 games in their history, including three conference championships, ten division championships, and fifteen playoff appearances. As of the end of the 2023 season, the only NFL teams who have more Super Bowl appearances with no titles than Cincinnati (which has 3 of them) are the 4-time Super Bowl non-winning Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings.
The franchise has experienced several extended periods of success in their history. These periods came from to when the Bengals qualified for the playoffs four times and played in two Super Bowls, and from to 2015. However, during a fourteen-year span—1991 to 2004—the Bengals did not qualify for the playoffs. During this time, the franchise had nine seasons with ten or more losses, and three of those seasons the franchise had the league's worst record. Between 2005 and 2015, the Bengals were more successful, posting seven winning seasons, three division titles and seven wild card playoff berths (including a streak of five consecutive playoff seasons, a first in franchise history). Despite the success, the Bengals did not win a playoff game between 1990 and 2021, one of the longest droughts in league history. From 2016 to 2020, the Bengals suffered five straight losing seasons, including having the league's worst record in the 2019 season (finishing 2–14 that season), before winning the AFC North and qualifying for the playoffs again in 2021, which included an AFC Championship Game win and a berth in their first Super Bowl since the 1988 season.
Seasons FinishFinal position in league, division or conferenceSuper Bowl champions†AFC champions*Division champions^Wild Card berth#
SeasonTeamLeagueConferenceDivisionRegular seasonPostseason resultsAwardsHead coachFinish19681968AFLWestern5th3110Paul Robinson (OROY)Paul Brown19691969AFLWestern5th491 Paul Brown (COY)Greg Cook (OROY)1970NFLAFCCentral^1st^860 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Colts) 0–17 Paul Brown (COY)1971NFLAFCCentral4th4100 1972NFLAFCCentral3rd8601973NFLAFCCentral^1st^1040Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Dolphins) 16–341974NFLAFCCentral2nd7701975NFLAFCCentral2nd#1130Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Raiders) 28–31 Ken Anderson (WPMOY)1976NFLAFCCentral2nd1040Bill Johnson1977NFLAFCCentral3rd8601978NFLAFCCentral4th4120Bill Johnson (0–5) Homer Rice (4–7)1979NFLAFCCentral4th4120Homer Rice1980NFLAFCCentral4th6100Forrest Gregg1981NFLAFC*Central^1st^1240Won Divisional Playoffs (Bills) 28–21Won AFC Championship (Chargers) 27–7Lost Super Bowl XVI (vs. 49ers) 21–26 Ken Anderson (MVP, OPOY, CPOY) (EOY)1982NFLAFC3rd#720Lost First Round Playoffs (Jets) 17–441983NFLAFCCentral3rd7901984NFLAFCCentral2nd880Brian Pillman (EBCA)Sam Wyche1985NFLAFCCentral2nd790 Eddie Brown (OROY)1986NFLAFCCentral2nd1060 Reggie Williams (WPMOY)1987NFLAFCCentral4th41101988NFLAFC*Central^1st^12 40Won Divisional Playoffs (Seahawks) 21–13Won AFC Championship (Bills) 21–10Lost Super Bowl XXIII (vs. 49ers) 16–20 Boomer Esiason (MVP)1989NFLAFCCentral4th8801990NFLAFCCentral^1st^970Won Wild Card Playoffs (Oilers) 41–14Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Raiders) 10–201991NFLAFCCentral4th3130 Anthony Muñoz (WPMOY)1992NFLAFCCentral4th5110 Carl Pickens (OROY)Dave Shula1993NFLAFCCentral4th313 01994NFLAFCCentral3rd31301995NFLAFCCentral2nd7901996NFLAFCCentral3rd880Dave Shula (1–6) Bruce Coslet (7–2)1997NFLAFCCentral4th790Bruce Coslet1998NFLAFCCentral5th313 01999NFLAFCCentral5th41202000NFLAFCCentral5th4120Bruce Coslet (0–3) Dick LeBeau (4–9)2001NFLAFCCentral6th6100Dick LeBeau2002NFLAFCNorth4th214 02003NFLAFCNorth2nd880 Jon Kitna (CPOY)Marvin Lewis2004NFLAFCNorth3rd8802005NFLAFCNorth^1st^1150Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Steelers) 17–312006NFLAFCNorth2nd8802007NFLAFCNorth3rd7902008NFLAFCNorth3rd 4111 2009NFLAFCNorth^1st^1060Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Jets) 14–24 Marvin Lewis (COY)2010NFLAFCNorth4th41202011NFLAFCNorth3rd#970Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Texans) 10–312012NFLAFCNorth2nd#1060Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Texans) 13–192013NFLAFCNorth^1st^1150Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Chargers) 10–272014NFLAFCNorth2nd#1051Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Colts) 10–262015NFLAFCNorth^1st^1240Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Steelers) 16–182016NFLAFCNorth3rd6912017NFLAFCNorth3rd7902018NFLAFCNorth4th61002019NFLAFCNorth4th2140Zac Taylor2020NFLAFCNorth4th41112021NFLAFC*North^1st^1070Won Wild Card Playoffs (Raiders) 26−19Won Divisional Playoffs (at Titans) 19–16Won AFC Championship (at Chiefs) 27–24 Lost Super Bowl LVI (vs. Rams) 20–23Ja'Marr Chase (OROY)Joe Burrow (CPOY)Duke Tobin (EOY)2022NFLAFCNorth^1st^1240Won Wild Card Playoffs (Ravens) 24–17Won Divisional Playoffs (at Bills) 27–10Lost AFC Championship (at Chiefs) 20–232023NFLAFCNorth4th9802024NFLAFCNorth3rd980Joe Burrow (CPOY)2025NFLAFCNorth3rd6110Totals 4094905All-time regular season record (1968–2025)1016—All-time postseason record (1968–2025)4195065All-time regular season and postseason record (1968–2025)3 AFC Conference Championships, 11 Division titles
Footnotes The 1982 season was a strike-shortened season so the league was divided up into two conferences instead of its normal divisional alignment. The strike of 1987 reduced the regular season schedule from 16 to 15 games.
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