This weekend will mark Joe Burrow‘s sixth season with the Bengals and Ja’Marr Chase’s fifth, but Cincinnati’s 6–10 record prevented them from qualifying for the postseason. The Bengals have only made it to the postseason once since the 2021 season, despite making it to the Super Bowl.
Burrow and Chase, as well as probably the rest of the team, understand that if the Bengals want to have more postseason success in the future, something needs to happen within the organization. Both players agreed that they can’t continue doing the same things the following season if they want to succeed, even if they didn’t specifically state what they thought needed to change.
On Wednesday, Burrow stated:
“We don’t want to be in the spot we are in now, so something’s got to change, whether it’s players we have continuing to improve and get better and play championship caliber football, or bringing in guys that will or whatever it may be. Obviously, something has to,”
In an interview with the media on Thursday, Chase restated what Burrow had said.
“I think some of the things are pretty obvious, what we need to change,”. “At the end of the day, I can’t really say or put an emphasis on what needs to be changed because that’s not my role. But it’s pretty obvious on what some of [the] issues [are] that need to be changed.”
Ja’Marr Chase agrees with Joe Burrow: the Bengals need to make changes after missing the playoffs for a third-straight season. He also said the changes are “pretty obvious” and can 100% be fixed in one offseason. pic.twitter.com/NR40W6odNs
— James Rapien (@JamesRapien) January 1, 2026
First of all, for the Bengals to maintain excellent consistency at quarterback in 2026, Burrow must stay healthy. This year, his turf toe injury didn’t help the Bengals get the postseason push they wanted. Cincinnati should work to strengthen its offensive line to shield the quarterback and prevent him from getting scratched in the future.
