TheCincinnati Bengalsfranchise was founded in 1968 as a member of the West division of theAmerican Football League (AFL). The Bengals joined theNational Football League (NFL) as a result of theAFL–NFL merger before1970. This list documents the franchise's completed seasons from 1968 to present, including postseason records and results from postseason games.[1] The Bengals have played over 850 games in their history, including three conference championships, ten division championships, and fifteenplayoff 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 from1981 to1990 when the Bengals qualified for the playoffs four times and played in twoSuper Bowls, and from2009 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. Between2005 and2015, 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 between1990 and2021, one of thelongest droughts in league history. From2016 to2020, 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 in2021, which included anAFC Championship Game win and a berth in their first Super Bowl since the 1988 season.
| Finish | Final position in league, division or conference |
| Super Bowl champions† | |
| AFC champions* | |
| Division champions^ | |
| Wild Card berth# |
| Season | Team | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | Awards | Head coach | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | W | L | T | ||||||||
| 1968 | 1968[2] | AFL | Western | 5th | 3 | 11 | 0 | Paul Robinson (OROY) | Paul Brown | ||
| 1969 | 1969[3] | AFL | Western | 5th | 4 | 9 | 1 | Paul Brown (COY) Greg Cook (OROY) | |||
| 1970 | 1970[4] | NFL | AFC | Central^ | 1st^ | 8 | 6 | 0 | LostDivisional Playoffs (atColts) 0–17 | Paul Brown (COY) | |
| 1971 | 1971[5] | NFL | AFC | Central | 4th | 4 | 10 | 0 | |||
| 1972 | 1972[6] | NFL | AFC | Central | 3rd | 8 | 6 | 0 | |||
| 1973 | 1973[7] | NFL | AFC | Central^ | 1st^ | 10 | 4 | 0 | LostDivisional Playoffs (atDolphins) 16–34 | ||
| 1974 | 1974[8] | NFL | AFC | Central | 2nd | 7 | 7 | 0 | |||
| 1975 | 1975[9] | NFL | AFC | Central | 2nd# | 11 | 3 | 0 | LostDivisional Playoffs (atRaiders) 28–31 | Ken Anderson (WPMOY) | |
| 1976 | 1976[10] | NFL | AFC | Central | 2nd | 10 | 4 | 0 | Bill Johnson | ||
| 1977 | 1977[11] | NFL | AFC | Central | 3rd | 8 | 6 | 0 | |||
| 1978 | 1978[12] | NFL | AFC | Central | 4th | 4 | 12 | 0 | Bill Johnson (0–5) Homer Rice (4–7) | ||
| 1979 | 1979[13] | NFL | AFC | Central | 4th | 4 | 12 | 0 | Homer Rice | ||
| 1980 | 1980[14] | NFL | AFC | Central | 4th | 6 | 10 | 0 | Forrest Gregg | ||
| 1981 | 1981[15] | NFL | AFC* | Central^ | 1st^ | 12 | 4 | 0 | WonDivisional Playoffs (Bills) 28–21 WonAFC Championship (Chargers) 27–7 LostSuper Bowl XVI (vs.49ers) 21–26 | Ken Anderson (MVP,OPOY,CPOY) | |
| 1982 | 1982[16][a] | NFL | AFC | 3rd# | 7 | 2 | 0 | LostFirst Round Playoffs (Jets) 17–44 | |||
| 1983 | 1983[17] | NFL | AFC | Central | 3rd | 7 | 9 | 0 | |||
| 1984 | 1984[18] | NFL | AFC | Central | 2nd | 8 | 8 | 0 | Brian Pillman (EBCA) | Sam Wyche | |
| 1985 | 1985[19] | NFL | AFC | Central | 2nd | 7 | 9 | 0 | Eddie Brown (OROY) | ||
| 1986 | 1986[20] | NFL | AFC | Central | 2nd | 10 | 6 | 0 | Reggie Williams (WPMOY) | ||
| 1987 | 1987[21][b] | NFL | AFC | Central | 4th | 4 | 11 | 0 | |||
| 1988 | 1988[22] | NFL | AFC* | Central^ | 1st^ | 12 | 4 | 0 | WonDivisional Playoffs (Seahawks) 21–13 WonAFC Championship (Bills) 21–10 LostSuper Bowl XXIII (vs.49ers) 16–20 | Boomer Esiason (MVP) | |
| 1989 | 1989[23] | NFL | AFC | Central | 4th | 8 | 8 | 0 | |||
| 1990 | 1990[24] | NFL | AFC | Central^ | 1st^ | 9 | 7 | 0 | WonWild Card Playoffs (Oilers) 41–14 LostDivisional Playoffs (atRaiders) 10–20 | ||
| 1991 | 1991[25] | NFL | AFC | Central | 4th | 3 | 13 | 0 | Anthony Muñoz (WPMOY) | ||
| 1992 | 1992[26] | NFL | AFC | Central | 4th | 5 | 11 | 0 | Carl Pickens (OROY) | Dave Shula | |
| 1993 | 1993[27] | NFL | AFC | Central | 4th | 3 | 13 | 0 | |||
| 1994 | 1994[28] | NFL | AFC | Central | 3rd | 3 | 13 | 0 | |||
| 1995 | 1995[29] | NFL | AFC | Central | 2nd | 7 | 9 | 0 | |||
| 1996 | 1996[30] | NFL | AFC | Central | 3rd | 8 | 8 | 0 | Dave Shula (1–6) Bruce Coslet (7–2) | ||
| 1997 | 1997[31] | NFL | AFC | Central | 4th | 7 | 9 | 0 | Bruce Coslet | ||
| 1998 | 1998[32] | NFL | AFC | Central | 5th | 3 | 13 | 0 | |||
| 1999 | 1999[33] | NFL | AFC | Central | 5th | 4 | 12 | 0 | |||
| 2000 | 2000[34] | NFL | AFC | Central | 5th | 4 | 12 | 0 | Bruce Coslet (0–3) Dick LeBeau (4–9) | ||
| 2001 | 2001[35] | NFL | AFC | Central | 6th | 6 | 10 | 0 | Dick LeBeau | ||
| 2002 | 2002[36] | NFL | AFC | North | 4th | 2 | 14 | 0 | |||
| 2003 | 2003[37] | NFL | AFC | North | 2nd | 8 | 8 | 0 | Jon Kitna (CPOY) | Marvin Lewis | |
| 2004 | 2004[38] | NFL | AFC | North | 3rd | 8 | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2005 | 2005[39] | NFL | AFC | North^ | 1st^ | 11 | 5 | 0 | LostWild Card Playoffs (Steelers) 17–31 | ||
| 2006 | 2006[40] | NFL | AFC | North | 2nd | 8 | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2007 | 2007[41] | NFL | AFC | North | 3rd | 7 | 9 | 0 | |||
| 2008 | 2008[42] | NFL | AFC | North | 3rd | 4 | 11 | 1 | |||
| 2009 | 2009[43] | NFL | AFC | North^ | 1st^ | 10 | 6 | 0 | LostWild Card Playoffs (Jets) 14–24 | Marvin Lewis (COY) | |
| 2010 | 2010[44] | NFL | AFC | North | 4th | 4 | 12 | 0 | |||
| 2011 | 2011[45] | NFL | AFC | North | 3rd# | 9 | 7 | 0 | LostWild Card Playoffs (atTexans) 10–31 | ||
| 2012 | 2012[46] | NFL | AFC | North | 2nd# | 10 | 6 | 0 | LostWild Card Playoffs (atTexans) 13–19 | ||
| 2013 | 2013[47] | NFL | AFC | North^ | 1st^ | 11 | 5 | 0 | LostWild Card Playoffs (Chargers) 10–27 | ||
| 2014 | 2014[48] | NFL | AFC | North | 2nd# | 10 | 5 | 1 | LostWild Card Playoffs (atColts) 10–26 | ||
| 2015 | 2015[49] | NFL | AFC | North^ | 1st^ | 12 | 4 | 0 | LostWild Card Playoffs (Steelers) 16–18 | ||
| 2016 | 2016[50] | NFL | AFC | North | 3rd | 6 | 9 | 1 | |||
| 2017 | 2017[51] | NFL | AFC | North | 3rd | 7 | 9 | 0 | |||
| 2018 | 2018[52] | NFL | AFC | North | 4th | 6 | 10 | 0 | |||
| 2019 | 2019[53] | NFL | AFC | North | 4th | 2 | 14 | 0 | Zac Taylor | ||
| 2020 | 2020[54] | NFL | AFC | North | 4th | 4 | 11 | 1 | |||
| 2021 | 2021 | NFL | AFC* | North^ | 1st^ | 10 | 7 | 0 | WonWild Card Playoffs (Raiders) 26−19 WonDivisional Playoffs (atTitans) 19–16 WonAFC Championship (atChiefs) 27–24(OT) LostSuper Bowl LVI (vs.Rams) 20–23 | Ja'Marr Chase (OROY) Joe Burrow (CPOY) | |
| 2022 | 2022 | NFL | AFC | North^ | 1st^ | 12 | 4 | 0 | WonWild Card Playoffs (Ravens) 24–17 WonDivisional Playoffs (atBills) 27–10 LostAFC Championship (atChiefs) 20–23 | ||
| 2023 | 2023 | NFL | AFC | North | 4th | 9 | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2024 | 2024 | NFL | AFC | North | 3rd | 9 | 8 | 0 | Joe Burrow (CPOY) | ||
| Totals | 403 | 479 | 5 | All-time regular season record (1968–2024)[55] | |||||||
| 10 | 16 | — | All-time postseason record (1968–2024)[55] | ||||||||
| 413 | 495 | 5 | All-time regular season and postseason record (1968–2024)[55] | ||||||||
| 3 AFC Conference Championships, 11 Division titles | |||||||||||
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