If you take away three plays in the blowout loss the Cincinnati Bengals suffered at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jake Browning actually put together another great game. Without those three plays, the young Cincinnati quarterback went 28 for 39 for 335 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately for Browning, that isn’t the way the sport works and the mistakes really hurt Browning on Saturday.
Bengals QB Jake Browning Undone by Mistakes in Pittsburgh
Rivalry games are always tough because they put a ton of pressure on the teams to play well. Let alone a late season rivalry game with the playoff implications that were on the line for Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon. That type of pressure can really affect the decision making of a young quarterback and that issue with Browning was exposed by Pittsburgh as Browning was guilty of throwing three interceptions.
The weight of the performance doesn’t all fall on Browning as Orlando Brown Jr. and Jonah Williams put in terrible performances against the elite Pittsburgh pass rush. On all three of Browning’s key mistakes, there was major pressure put on by a Pittsburgh defender whether it was Defensive Player of the Year candidate T.J. Watt, edge rusher Alex Highsmith or backup Nate Herbig getting home against Cincinnati.
Another INT for the defense 💪
📲: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/T87FSnfvVk pic.twitter.com/LIcNb3O4wg
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 23, 2023
Browning led Cincinnati to a terrific come from behind victory against the Minnesota Vikings last week but if you watched closely, you could see his weaknesses then. On multiple big plays for Cincinnati, Browning lobbed it up deep without any targeted receiver and hoped that someone would come down with it. That strategy worked for Cincinnati last week with some tremendous plays from superstar receiver Tee Higgins but it certainly didn’t work out on Saturday.
Tee Higgins just made one of the catches of the season to tie it late between the Bengals and Vikings. pic.twitter.com/FeQJObiy5I
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) December 16, 2023
On the first interception of the afternoon, Browning lobbed up a similar throw into the end zone and Pittsburgh came down with the ball with no Cincinnati receiver even in the area. Browning has played exceptionally well this season but those three plays seriously cost the team against Pittsburgh.
Decision-making is arguably the biggest skill that they miss with the absence of superstar quarterback Joe Burrow. The former Most Valuable Player candidate was renowned for very rarely making mistakes against defenses as well as his ability to read defenses. It was apparent that Browning had prepared to play man-to-man defenses and was completely thrown off by the amount of zone that the Pittsburgh defenders were in.
Cincinnati essentially must win both of their final two games against Kansas City and Cleveland to have a hope at making the playoffs. Cleveland won’t be too difficult because based on where they will be by the final week of the season, it is very possible that Cleveland will bench all of their starters. Kansas City will be brutal as the Chiefs have held animosity toward some of the Cincinnati players trash talking over big games over the past few years.
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