Does Another Winless Bengals Preseason Reduce Their Chances of Postseason Success?

CINCINNATI – The preseason doesn’t count. Everyone knows that.

But does it matter?

Does a team that does really well in the preseason have a better chance of postseason advancement than a team than a team that goes winless?

The Cincinnati Bengals certainly hope not.

The Bengals recently concluded a second consecutive winless preseason, going 0-3 after posting an 0-2-1 mark last year.

Bad for Bengals: Correlation Between Winless Preseasons and Playoff Failures

“Obviously, we want to win. Going 0-3 is not what we wanted,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said after the loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the team’s preseason finale.

“But I still think we get a lot out of (the preseason),” he added. “It was good for those guys to maximize their opportunity and playing time, so it’s really good work for the depth of our team.”

FREE: Subscribe to PFN’s NFL Newsletter

Teams want to win, and they try to win. It’s just not the highest priority.

But a team with great potential should be able to find a way to pull out at least one win, even with the number of preseason games reduced to three since 2021.

The back-to-back winless preseasons for the first time in Bengals history had me wondering how teams across the league have fared after failing to celebrate a single victory in August.

And it turns out there is some relevance.

In the previous five preseasons, from 2018 to 2023 (there were none in 2020 due to the pandemic), 25 teams went winless.

Only three made the postseason and won a game.

The outliers:

The 2022 Jacksonville Jaguars went 0-3 in the preseason before posting a 9-8 mark in the regular season to win the AFC South Division. They needed a record-breaking 27-point comeback to advance in the playoffs, beating the Los Angeles Chargers 31-30.

The 2021 Los Angeles Rams went 0-3 before going 12-5 and winning the NFC West and Super Bowl LVI (sorry, Bengals fans).

The 2018 Dallas Cowboys went 0-4 ahead of winning the NFC East with a 10-6 record. The Cowboys advanced past the Wild Card round with a victory against the Seattle Seahawks before falling to the Rams in the Divisional Round.

Of the 22 teams that didn’t win a playoff game, 10 at least reached the postseason.

But what about the flip side?

How many teams that have had unbeaten preseasons failed to make the playoffs?

A lot.

Of the 20 teams that have gone undefeated in the preseason since 2018, more than half – 12 – have failed to make the playoffs.

And five failed to win more than six games.

Only two on that list have advanced in the playoffs — the 2021 Bills and 2021 Chiefs, who stopped Buffalo’s run in the Divisional Round.

So there is far more correlation between poor preseason teams failing to succeed in the regular season than there is with unbeaten preseason teams and postseason greatness.