(Reuters) – Profile of the American Football Conference’s (AFC) Cincinnati Bengals, who play the National Football Conference’s Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Founded: 1966. Joined the American Football League in 1968 as an expansion team in 1968. By 1970, the Bengals won the AFC Central Division to become the first expansion team to win a championship of any kind in just three years.
AFC titles (season): 3 (1981, 1988, 2021)
Super Bowl titles (season): None
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Head coach: Zac Taylor. A former quarterbacks coach with the Los Angeles Rams, Taylor was named head coach of the Bengals in February 2019. In only his third season, Taylor has helped lead a turnaround in the long-suffering franchise.
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Starting quarterback: Joe Burrow. Selected with the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Burrow has surpassed expectations to become the first quarterback to lead his team to a Super Bowl within two seasons of being drafted first overall.
2021 regular season record: 10-7; 1st in AFC North division
Week 1 – vs Minnesota, won 27-24 OT
Week 2 – @ Chicago, lost 20-17
Week 3 – @ Pittsburgh, won 24-10
Week 4 – vs Jacksonville, won 24-21
Week 5 – vs Green Bay, lost 25-22 OT
Week 6 – @ Detroit, won 34-11
Week 7 – @ Baltimore, won 41-17
Week 8 – @ New York Jets, lost 34-31
Week 9 – vs Cleveland, lost 41-16
Week 10 – Bye Week
Week 11 – @ Las Vegas, won 32-13
Week 12 – vs Pittsburgh, won 41-10
Week 13 – vs Los Angeles Chargers, lost 41-22
Week 14 – vs San Francisco 49ers, lost 26-23 OT
Week 15 – @ Denver, won 15-10
Week 16 – vs Baltimore, won 41-21
Week 17 – vs Kansas City, won 34-31
Week 18 – vs Cleveland, lost 21-16
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AFC playoff seeding: 4
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Path to the Super Bowl – Beat Las Vegas 26-19 in opening wild card round; Beat Tennessee 19-16 in the divisional round; Beat Kansas City 27-24 in overtime of the AFC championship.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
