Nothing pains me more than starting my column with the wisdom of Aaron Rodgers, especially when we’re not so far removed from the Bengals making him look like a adequate starting quarterback. Nevertheless, after Sunday’s agonizing, there-for-taking 22-17 loss to Jacksonville, dropping Cincinnati to 2-2 on the young season, I feel the need to quote Mr. Rodgers. So for all of you anguished fans on the ledge out there: “R-E-L-A-X.”
In case you forgot or don’t know, the 2014 Packers were 1-2 and appeared to be melted cheddar when Rodgers went on a local radio show and told the fans things things would be OK. Indeed they were. The Pack rebounded from the slow start, went 12-4 and would have been in the Super Bowl but for their infamous collapse against Seattle in the NFC title game.
I honestly believe the Bengals can do likewise, perhaps even meeting our fellow felines the Jaguars in a rematch in January—albeit most likely in J-ville after Sunday’s loss. Why so chipper after back-to-back heartbreaking defeats? Well, for one thing, that’s the NFL.
While it would be nice to win all the close games, like the Broncos did last season, that simply isn’t realistic. Yes, the “Joe Burrow can’t pull out late games” non-narrative was there to be instantly shattered on Sunday, and to have done so without Ja’Marr Chase (concussed by a flagrantly illegal hit that of course went uncalled) and Tee Higgins (groin strain) would have made it so much sweeter. But alas.
But think about the sequence of events. Down 22-17, Cincinnati got the ball for that last opportunity only because Parker Washington’s heel barely landed out of bounds, negating a game-sealing big play. The Bengals get to the brink of the Red Zone in three quick passes, and we’re all thinking, “Don’t score too quickly!”
Then it went to hell. The refs ignore a blatant pass interference on Jarrian Jones that would have put the ball inside the 15. Then Mike Gesicki, by his own admission, runs the wrong route (he was in the Higgins wideout position and unsure of the play), and a sure TD opportunity is missed. Another borderline interference on Jones is ignored on third down. Then Rayuan Lane makes a spectacular tackle, the kind we never seem to get in those big spots, and Chase Brown comes up half a yard short. Game over.
That’s the narrow margins we see every week in the NFL. A call made or not made. Half a yard here, a few inches of heel there. The Bengals got some of those breaks in the first two games and will get more as the long, long season unfolds.
Mainly, though, I’m unconcerned because I kind of saw this coming. Before the season I wondered what would happen to those great vibes coming out of the offseason if things went against the Bengals and they were, say, 1-3 headed into this weekend. Well, they’re 2-2, and believe me when I tell you that the sky isn’t falling. Would 3-1 be better? Of course.
But Cincinnati under Zac Taylor has consistently been in a position of figuring out and changing broken elements of the team, of the offense in particular, on the fly. Next week’s bye comes at a good time in that case, though it’s still early.
The main thing that needs adjusting is the running game/blocking that flatlined against Jacksonville. Some of that was just being outplayed upfront (center Ted Karras admitted the showing made him sick), some of it was scheme, and some of it was game script. But the Bengals are 12th in the NFL in running DVOA.
It doesn’t feel like it after Sunday, I know, and they’re still in the negative there. Generally the entire NFL struggles to run it efficiently (only nine teams have positive rushing DVOA), which is why passing is so much more reliable and Burrow said the team should pass more even after throwing it an unsustainable 54 times on Sunday.
Then, too, Brown has gained strength as the season goes along throughout his career. Last season eight of his 11 TDs came after Week 9, along with 835 of his 1,456 yards from scrimmage. In 2024 it was even more stark: 930 of his 1,350 combined yards came in the second half of the campaign. A lot of that is adjustments by the coaching staff and improved line play.
And, unsurprisingly, the much-ballyhooed under center game has yet to pay dividends. It was always going to be a work in progress. Teams that are as shotgun-heavy as Burrow and Cincinnati cannot simply snap fingers and become an under-center team, especially when JB is the best pure shotgun QB since Peyton Manning. But there are certainly tweaks and adjustments to be made, and more importantly they need to stop defaulting back to their comfort zone as soon as struggles emerge. Truly implementing an under center attack requires commitment, one that will have warts as they go but will be worth it come later win the season if they have the fortitude.
As the saying goes, September is about learning and December is about earning. What the Bengals need to recapture is the essence of the 2022 team, not the 2021 Super Bowl club. In ’22 they were 4-4 and scuffling, figured it out, and won 10 straight before falling in the last second at K.C. That type of sustained success certainly remains a possibility.
Another reason to be optimistic: Though you never really know from week to week about the opposition, the schedule still leans easier than harder. That starts Sunday in Miami. Obviously, beating the winless Dolphins is a mandatory, if only because you can’t lose to the worst team in football and expect to get anywhere. Miami is not only dead last in DVOA, but they’re by a comfortable margin.
Offensively they are putrid, with the only skill player who scares anyone, running back De’Von Achane, now out for the season with a torn ACL. You haven’t heard of anyone else, though Miami’s tight end, Greg Dulcich, will undoubtedly go for career highs in receptions and yardage, because that’s what happens against the Bengals.
Miami’s defense, led by rookie linebacker and woulda-coulda-been Bengal Jacob Rodriguez, has been frisky, especially against the run (13th in DVOA). The game likely will be played in hot, humid, drizzly conditions, as usual for South Florida. Getting the run game untracked in those circumstances won’t be easy, particularly if either Chase or Higgins (or both) are out or impaired. Even with second and third string wideouts in the game, the matchup favors the Bengals winning through the air.
Last season Cincinnati rolled up over 400 yards in Miami en route to a 45-21 win, though they surrendered a ton of yards to rookie QB Quinn Ewers, who was seen on the sideline Sunday as Trevor Lawrence’s backup with Jacksonville. Three Fish turnovers were the key to that game, setting up 35 unanswered Cincy points. After the disastrous miscues over the last two weeks, the Bengals are due for the turnover fortune to tilt back their way once more.
Cincinnati will get a lot of laughs and little respect if they go into the bye week at 3-2 with their opponents’ records at 0-15 (Tampa minus Baker Mayfield is in Dallas tonight, while Houston is in Tennessee Sunday for a game so uninteresting even The Weather Channel doesn’t want any part of it).
To that I say: Who cares? What really matters will be the adjustments Taylor and staff make during the bye week, for the season really begins the following Sunday in Baltimore.
Robert Weintraub heads up Bengals coverage for Cincinnati Magazine and has written for The New York Times, Grantland, Slate, and Deadspin. Follow him on X at @robwein.
