Who can blame anyone for having doubts about the 2025 Cincinnati Bengals? Their defense has looked atrocious in the preseason, and it looks like Joe Burrow and the offense might have to score 30 a week just to stay competitive.
That was the story last season, when Burrow put up an MVP-caliber year, only to need a five-game winning streak to finish just above .500 at 9-8. It wasn't good enough for the playoffs. If Trey Hendrickson isn't on the team, it stands to reason Cincinnati could be worse off yet.
When former NFL executives are sounding off on live TV about how a last-place team in arguably the league's toughest division has better postseason hopes than you, Bengals management, it might be time to look in the mirror and change your approach on some things.
Louis Riddick proclaims Raiders have better shot at playoffs than Bengals
Although he does TV nowadays for the four-letter network, Louis Riddick was a tenured member of NFL front offices in Washington and Philadelphia. He's been touted as a potential GM candidate in recent years. The man knows his stuff.
So when Riddick makes a bold statement like the Las Vegas Raiders having better playoff odds than the Bengals, even on a traditional blowhard type of show like First Take, it's worth taking note of. To Riddick, recent bottom-dwellers like the Raiders and the New England Patriots — a potential Hendrickson trade partner — are looking better than the Bengals at the minute.
Cincinnati's issues extend beyond the defense and into the poor pass protection Burrow has had throughout his career, according to Riddick (and my very own eyeballs):
"Since Joe's been there, they've been in the bottom quarter of the league in pass block win rate every single year. And people go, 'Well he's been able to manage it!' Look at the season he had last year. You're playing with fire with the way in which this guy has to be perfect every single week when he has turnstiles for an offensive line. And while everyone else in the AFC is gaining ground, his team is losing ground. [...] As far as the supporting cast is concerned, every other football team's getting better. [...] I really think this football team could be in trouble again — and you're right. Look, Trey Hendrickson does not make them a Super Bowl contender, does not make them a playoff contender by himself alone. There are far more foundational issues with this football team."
"I'd trust the Raiders right now to find a way to sneak into the playoffs before I would trust the Bengals."
— First Take (@FirstTake) August 20, 2025
—@LRiddickESPN on teams who he trusts more than the Bengals 😳 pic.twitter.com/6yPcQlPFqR
Some may argue that Riddick's larger narrative about the Bengals having far more foundational problems than Hendrickson alone can fix should heighten the urgency to trade him. Alas, the time to move Hendrickson was prior to the draft, when Cincinnati could've gotten extra picks to use and at least have a chance for some players to contribute to the 2025 team.
Instead, the Bengals sat on their hands, stubbornly refusing to pay Hendrickson what he's worth. Not guaranteeing any money beyond the first year of a new contract. To borrow some phraseology from a First Take legend, that's not merely asinine. It's asi-10, asi-11, asi-12 levels of organizational malpractice.
Now Cincinnati's self-owning stalemate will, in its best-case scenario, manifest in a long-awaited Hendrickson extension that caused needless offseason drama. Any other outcome means the Bengals will get back multiple players in a trade who'll have to learn on the fly and be counted on to fill starting roles or thereabouts.
I don't know how many times I can say the same thing in myriad variations. The real games need to start ASAP, because at least by then, we should have an answer one way or another on Hendrickson's future in the Queen City.
As for the Raiders being superior to the Bengals, I do think they drafted well, have a new energy with head coach Pete Carroll in the fold, and Geno Smith is an incalculable upgrade from what they've had at the quarterback position.
If Broncos QB Bo Nix hits some kind of sophomore skid, the Chiefs get in a bunch more one-score games and don't win, and the Chargers regress due to Rashawn Slater's injury and their top-flight defense facing far stiffer competition, there's a real path for Las Vegas to rise in the AFC West.
Those are a lot of if's to account for, though. One thing is certain: All those teams are being more proactive about chasing a Super Bowl than the Bengals. Love me some Zac Taylor, but I'd argue him as the worst head coach amongst himself and the likes of Carroll, Sean Payton, Jim Harbaugh, and Andy Reid. By a considerable margin.
To Riddick's point about the offensive line, too: We're in Year 6 of the Joe Burrow era. How is it that in all five of those prior seasons, including one where Burrow dragged a woeful o-line to an AFC championship and Super Bowl berth, the team didn't make enough meaningful improvements to not get their face of the franchise pummeled over and over again?
Hendrickson requested a trade last offseason. He played ball on a criminally low deal for what he produces. Once again, he notched 17.5 sacks. Letting him loose all but vanquishes any goodwill built up from extending Ja'Marr Chase one year late and Tee Higgins two years late.
Hey Louis, wanna be the Bengals GM, er, director of pro personnel once Duke Tobin's all done here? We could use a real voice of reason over here!