It’s probably for the best that the Bengals (and we fans) will have a full 10 days to recover from that crushing, season-defining 35-34 loss in Baltimore last Thursday night. The full kaleidoscope of this campaign was on display: thrilling offense led by a sensational Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, a horrendous display of tackling and defensive positioning, an utter fiasco of red zone defense (especially on third down), crucial mistakes at the worst times, a blown double-digit lead, dubious refereeing, questionable coaching, and the entirety of the drama boiling down to a single moment that Cincinnati failed to execute, resulting in yet another frustrating, narrow defeat.
You don’t need me to refresh your memory about how it all went down or how sickening it was. Count me among those who feel that, even if the Bengals had converted on the two-point conversion (yes, going for it was clearly the correct decision) with 38 seconds left to take the lead, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens would still have won with a field goal at the gun. That’s where my confidence in Cincinnati’s defense in crunch time is these days. The Ravens scored TDs on their last four possessions; do we really think Jackson wouldn’t have gotten the 45 yards or so needed for a winning kick?
In all, Cincinnati rolled up 470 yards, had 27 first downs, were perfect in the red zone, and lost. Chase had 264 yards receiving and three scores, and lost. Over the two games against Baltimore this season, Uno has 21 catches for 457 yards and five touchdowns (!), and the Bengals somehow lost both.
I blame myself. If I hadn’t anointed Cam Taylor-Britt the next Bengals star in Cincinnati Magazine before the 2023 season began, perhaps he wouldn’t have become the trainwreck of a player we’ve seen repeatedly scorched this year. Instead of turning into the next Lamar Parrish, CTB has turned into the cornerback equivalent of Steve Blass or Steve Sax in baseball—guys who suddenly, inexplicably lost the ability to perform the basic elements of their position.
The Bengals were thin at corner before the season, as repeatedly noted here, got worse when Dax Hill went down with injury, and now are seeing their supposedly reliable guys stink out the joint on the regular. It’s so bad they brought in Xavien Howard to see if he could help, and even he fled the scene without a deal.
CTB and the secondary would certainly look better with a more efficient pass rush, but it continues to be Trey Hendrickson and a cast of meh. These are repeated dead horses I’ve flogged all season, so no need to rehash them. Suffice to say, the buzzards are circling Lou Anarumo, I’m afraid, and no signing off the street 10 weeks into the season is going to prevent that.
So now what? Somehow, this deeply flawed, utterly untrustworthy squad is still in the hunt for a playoff berth. Losses by Denver and Indy on Sunday helped the Bengals’ cause, such as it is, and the team remains squarely in the chase for the seventh and final wild-card spot.
As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Sunday’s game in L.A. against the Chargers is the pivotal moment of the year. With a win, Cincinnati has a decent chance of a postseason slot. With a loss, it’s all but over.
The Chargers are an extremely quiet 6-3, winning against the league’s dreck and falling short against the decent teams on its schedule, with the exception of a 23-16 win over Denver, right now the swing game of the season for those two squads. Under new coach Jim Harbaugh, the Bolts have taken on his identity: tough, smart, basic, disciplined. Unlike the Bengals (and legions of Chargers teams of the past), these guys don’t find ways to lose games, don’t make fundamental mistakes, and don’t wait for the other shoe to drop.
It’s testament to the overall effect a coach can have on a program. Harbaugh hasn’t done that much schematically or found a miracle path to lift a team that isn’t especially talented beyond quarterback Justin Herbert. He simply has installed a workmanlike ethic and a physical, determined style, and the players have bought in. That’s how they have won all the games they “should” win, enough to place them squarely in the playoff chase.
Unfortunately for the Bengals, that’s not the kind of team they’ve proven they can defeat—just the opposite, in fact. Cincinnati’s wins this season have mainly been a result of the other crappy team’s floundering ways, allowing the Bengals to capitalize on sheer talent. The Chargers are steady in all phases: 10th overall in DVOA, 12th on offense, eighth on defense. Their pass rush is fifth in Adjusted Sack Rate, with standouts Joey Bosa and Kahlil Mack joined by a bevy of solid players (watch out for second-year man Tuli Tuipulotu). They play some complex defensive schemes that their young players are executing well, in stark contrast to a certain team in stripes.
Herbert is seldom talked about as a star, in contrast to his dazzling early seasons, but he’s thrown just a single interception all season and ranks 10th in efficiency among quarterbacks. His scrambles aren’t the highlight film stuff of Jackson, but they’ve been frustrating for enemy defenses. He undoubtedly feels relieved of the burden that he had to be perfect in previous seasons, with the Chargers now fully capable of winning close, ugly games.
In short, it will take a desperate, all-out effort on Cincinnati’s part to escape with a victory in the team’s first game back at SoFi Stadium since, well, you know when. They have that win-or-else urgency in their favor, along with added rest from the mini-bye and knowledge that the real thing awaits after Sunday night’s game.
The long, barren stretch—just this game between November 8 and December 1—puts us in a terrible scenario as fans. Should Cincinnati lose to L.A., that would mean two full weeks of waiting for another game to distract us from the fact that the season is probably done for. Which means a fortnight of early draft studying and quantifying just where this season ranks on the list of most disappointing in franchise history. Yucko.
All of that can be alleviated with a win that not only keeps the team in the hunt but perhaps begins the process of actually transforming this group into a team that can defy the odds and find its way into the postseason. It would be the best victory of the year, by far. Let’s not start thinking about the long-term impact of a loss until we have to.
Robert Weintraub heads up Bengals coverage for Cincinnati Magazine and has written for The New York Times, Grantland, Slate, and Deadspin. Follow him on Twitter at @robwein. Listen to him on Mo Egger’s show on 1530AM every Thursday at 5:20 p.m.
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