Remember all that cockeyed optimism after Jake Browning led a comeback to beat the Jags and get Cincinnati to 2-0 just (checks notes) two weeks ago? Yeah, me neither. The past two games have put any hopeful feelings about the Bengals’ ability to compete without Joe Burrow in a sack and tossed it into a raging river.
Monday night’s 28-3 debacle in Denver was just a continuation of the colossal beating Cincinnati took at the hands of the Vikings the week before, only with fewer turnovers and before an aghast prime-time TV audience and a disgusted Troy Aikman. The Broncos, who had been struggling on offense through three games, outgained the Bengals 512-159, the fourth-worst differential in franchise history. (Shockingly, none of the other three were from the Lost Decade of the 1990s; one was in the debut 1968 season and the others came during playoff campaigns in 2005 and 2014.)
When combined with the Vikings pummeling, the two-game yardage differential (534 yards) is the worst in franchise history, as are the 63 combined points they lost by over the two games. Taking a singular beating is commonplace in the NFL, even for good teams (though not great ones), but having it happen over consecutive games means your team is definitely flawed if not bad. With Detroit and Green Bay next up on the schedule, “bad” may turn into “atrocious” before the Ides of October arrive.
We expected Browning to be inconsistent, but he’s been flat-out poor, making my surprise that a team hadn’t traded for him to give him a crack at starting look foolish in retrospect. That said, the team around him, especially (stop me if you’ve heard this before) the offensive line, hasn’t helped much. It’s probably unfair to judge new OL coach Scott Peters after just four games, but hiring a guy whose line in Cleveland was a bowl of polenta and whose main claim to competence is teaching martial arts techniques hardly inspires confidence. We knew the guards, consisting of rookies and mediocre journeymen, would struggle. But Orlando Brown looks like he’s still playing on a broken leg, while Amarius Mims, expected to take the next step in his sophomore season, has regressed.
No time to throw, no holes on the ground … it’s been the same old story. In this context, Chase Brown gaining 40 yards on 10 carries represents a hell of an effort. If there was one moment that encapsulated the grim affair in Denver, it was a passing play that saw the Broncos rush just three defenders. The nose man was handled by four—count ’em, four—Bengals while both tackles, Brown and Mims, were immediately beaten by their respective edge defenders, who met at Browning for a sack. (Check out this snapshot if you can stomach it.)
It really boggles the mind. There are plenty of horrific lines around the league due to bad play, iffy coaching, injuries, and a fundamental lack of pro-ready talent coming from the collegiate ranks. Yet most of them, with the exception of Tennessee under ex-Bengals OC Brian Callahan, manage to at least be functional. Even with barely adequate lines, these teams can at least gain a few yards, reel off some first downs, and threaten to score from time to time. Meanwhile Dallas, minus several starters and facing Green Bay’s howling defense (soon to be across the line of scrimmage from our beleaguered boys in stripes), found a way to score 40 points in a wild OT affair that saw Dak Prescott and Jordan Love trade big plays and long drives. Cincinnati’s line cannot manage anything close to that.
Speaking of the Titans, Callahan recently gave up play calling duties, a sure sign that things aren’t working as expected in Nashville and the end is nigh. Taylor has a history of success calling plays on offense, but it’s starkly apparent how much of that depended on Burrow’s brilliance pre- and post-snap. Time and again Browning has been given a two-play option in the huddle, and he either chooses the wrong play or executes the right one poorly. Burrow seldom does that, an aspect of his excellence that’s rarely remarked on, although the results are clear.
Should Taylor do likewise and hand over his play sheet to Dan Pitcher? It would be a last-ditch ploy and risks having his OC do better, which no coach wants. It’d also mean the Bengals would head into each game with two coordinators who have never called NFL plays before this season. At this point, Pitcher could hardly do worse.
Similarly, the defense under Al Golden almost cannot be judged once again. They weren’t good in Denver, to put it mildly, but without an offense capable of moving the sticks they predictably wore down—after the first drive the Bengals managed just two first downs, both via penalty, until garbage time. This was always going to be a defense that would be successful by doing enough to win, coming up with turnovers, and making big plays in the red zone and late in games. Once Cincinnati gets behind by multiple touchdowns, there’s little chance of any resistance from this unit, which remains devoid of pass rush and regularly takes poor angles to the football.
Somehow, the Bengals would actually make the playoffs if they started today, believe it or not. The AFC North is hardly a juggernaut. Baltimore can’t play defense and Lamar Jackson is banged up, Joe Flacco has already been benched in Cleveland, and Pittsburgh is off to its usual September of close wins that will inevitably spiral downward once the autumnal chill seeps into Aaron Rodgers’ bones. We noted last week how Taylor’s teams get better as the year progresses. One of the reasons Browning had a successful turn in 2023 was the fact that the team had flushed its non-working parts down the toilet and cohered into a competent unit.
This team is not nearly as proven as the 2023 Bengals were, however, and having to play with Browning for such a long period makes any adjustments much more difficult to pull off. Detroit is a 10-point favorite on Sunday, and that feels optimistic. My final score prediction is 59-3. After a presumed loss in Green Bay, the season then rests on the subsequent four-game stretch featuring both matchups with Pittsburgh as well as the Jets and the Bears.
Lose most or all of those, and that’s a wrap on the season. And perhaps a wrap on the Taylor Era.
Robert Weintraub heads up Bengals coverage for Cincinnati Magazine and has written for The New York Times, Grantland, Slate, and Deadspin. He guests on Mo Egger’s radio show every Thursday in the 5 p.m. hour. Follow him on X at @robwein.
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