The Cincinnati Bengals enter Super Bowl LVI against the Los Angeles Rams as one of the most tortured franchises in NFL history. Not only have the Bengals never won a Super Bowl championship, but their Super Bowl appearances have been few and far between.

Super Bowl LVI marks the Bengals’ first trip to the game in 33 years. Cincinnati has been to the Super Bowl twice in its history, suffering a one-score loss at the hands of Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers on each occasion.

On Jan. 22, 1989, the Bengals suffered a heartbreaking 20-16 loss against the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIII. Cincinnati held a 16-13 lead with a little over three minutes left in the game. Montana led an 11-play, 92-yard touchdown drive that ended the Bengals’ championship hopes.

In Super Bowl XVI on Jan. 24, 1982, Cincinnati became the first team in Super Bowl history to outgain its opponent and fail to win the title. The 49ers jumped out to a 20-0 halftime lead over the Bengals before holding on for a 26-21 victory.

The Bengals have never reached the AFC Championship Game in a season during which they didn’t make the Super Bowl. The franchise was founded in 1968 and went through its first 13 seasons without earning any postseason victories.

Two years after reaching Super Bowl XXIII, the Bengals won a wild-card game before losing in the divisional round. That started a 31-year stretch in which Cincinnati didn’t win a single playoff game. The Bengals finally ended that drought in the 2022 wild-card round with a win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

From 1991-2004, Cincinnati never made the playoffs. The Bengals were ousted on Wild-Card Weekend in the 2005 and 2009 seasons. Andy Dalton led Cincinnati to five straight playoff appearances starting in 2011, only to suffer a disappointing first-round defeat every time.

The wheels came off in 2016 and the Bengals suffered five straight losing seasons. Zac Taylor replaced Marvin Lewis as the team’s head coach for the 2019 season. Taylor posted a meager 6-25-1 record in his first two years at the helm.

Two years after being made the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft, Joe Burrow has emerged as one of the league’s top quarterbacks, resurrecting the franchise. Burrow and the Bengals have won three games this postseason en route to Super Bowl LVI. Cincinnati amassed five total playoff wins in the previous 53 seasons.

The Rams are four-point favorites over the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13 at Sofi Stadium.

Cincinnati fans celebrate after the Bengals' 26-19 victory over the Los Vegas Raiders -- the team's first NFL playoff victory since January 1991
Cincinnati fans celebrate after the Bengals' 26-19 victory over the Los Vegas Raiders -- the team's first NFL playoff victory since January 1991 GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA via AFP / ANDY LYONS
RELATED STORIES