The Cincinnati Bengals’ 2024 season boiled down to two stark realities. First, Joe Burrow was statistically the best quarterback in football. Second, even with Burrow at his peak, the Bengals couldn’t make the playoffs.
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Burrow had a career-best season too, throwing for 4,918 yards, 43 touchdowns, and just nine interceptions on a league-best 70.6% completion rate.
Partner in crime, Ja’Marr Chase, even secured the triple crown, leading the NFL in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Yet, despite the offensive fireworks that echoed their 2021 Super Bowl run, the Bengals’ defense collapsed, costing Burrow and his team a playoff berth. Still, for former Bengals wideout TJ Houshmandzadeh, the disappointment of 2024 doesn’t dim the optimism heading into this season.
Speaking candidly with veteran journalist Jason Whitlock, Houshmandzadeh praised his former team for steering clear of the kind of missteps this offseason that once drove Carson Palmer to demand a trade.
“I’m proud of the way the Bengals went about this,” Houshmandzadeh said. “Although it took a while, they got it done. We didn’t have to trade Trey Hendrickson, which I thought they would. We paid Tee and Ja’Marr because that’s what Joe wanted,” he added.
That last point carried weight. The ex-Bengals WR remembered how ownership failed to keep him and Chad Johnson together for Palmer, a decision that fractured the locker room by 2011. Hence, the latest extension of Chase-Higgins-Hendrickson makes Houshmandzadeh believe that owner Mike Brown has now learned from his past blunders:
“He didn’t let history repeat itself with Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow wanted Ja’Marr and Tee. He made it happen.”
The analyst was particularly impressed with how the front office handled the Trey Hendrickson extension, rewarding the pass rusher with $14 million in extra money without adding another year to his contract. “When did teams start doing that?” he remarked, pointing to it as evidence that the Bengals are “all in.”
This front office aggressiveness has Houshmandzadeh convinced that they have done enough to help Joe Burrow & Co. go toe-to-toe with any team in the NFL. If, of course, their star quarterback stays on the field. “I believe we have a shot just as good as anybody as long as Joe Burrow stays healthy,” he emphasized.
Still, Houshmandzadeh hesitated to set the expectations high by refraining from terming 2025 as Super Bowl or bust season for the Bengals. “I don’t know if it’s Super Bowl or bust because we’re young, but we damn sure better be there at the end,” he said.
“We paid Ja’Marr and Tee because that’s something Joe (Burrow) wanted. That was something Carson (Palmer) wanted, to keep me and Chad together… Mike Brown didn’t let history repeat itself” – @housh84 on the Bengals learning from Carson Palmer leaving Cincinnati. pic.twitter.com/nD4asAkzhn
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) August 30, 2025
In essence, the Bengals have stacked the roster the right way. Joe Burrow has his weapons locked in, ownership is willing to spend, and the team has continuity it lacked in past eras. But as Houshmandzadeh made clear, the Bengals’ title hopes ultimately rise and fall with No. 9.
Because if Burrow replicates his ‘God mode’ 2024 form, this time with a defense that has learnt from its mistakes, the Bengals won’t just be in the hunt, they’ll be among the favorites to lift the Lombardi because their offense is too good to miss the playoffs again.
