Bengals enter postseason sharing key similarity with only perfect team in NFL history

The Cincinnati Bengals enter the postseason on the second-longest winning streak in the NFL.

Cincinnati won each of its last eight regular-season games to finish 12-4 and win its second-straight AFC North title. Only the San Francisco 49ers, winners of 10 straight, take a longer winning streak into the postseason.

While the 49ers’ streak is longer, San Francisco can’t say its streak has something in common with the 1972 undefeated and Super Bowl-champion Miami Dolphins like the Bengals.

Per NFL Research, the Bengals’ eight-game winning streak entering the postseason is the second-longest of any team coming off a trip to the Super Bowl. The only team with a longer streak: The 1972 Dolphins.

Miami reached Super Bowl VI during the 1971 season, losing to the Dallas Cowboys. It came back the following year to go 14-0 in the regular season, taking a 14-game winning streak into the postseason, where it beat the Browns and Steelers en route to a win over Washington in Super Bowl VII.

The Bengals reached last year’s Super Bowl losing to the Los Angeles Rams. Now, winners of eight straight, it hopes to ride that momentum back to the Super Bowl, and this time, win the whole dang thing.

Cincinnati’s quest to repeat as AFC Champions begins Sunday night against the Lamar Jackson-less Baltimore Ravens.