Oh the mighty have fallen. Many have considered the Cincinnati Bengals as contenders for the super bowl this season. Has the Cincinnati Bengals dynasty already crumbled before reaching great heights?
Bengals against Opposing Quarterback’s
The Cincinnati Bengals have started this season with a 1-2 record. Both losses came to teams with inadequate starters at quarterback: the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys.
Starting the game last week for the Dallas Cowboys was Cooper Rush. A player who was Dak Prescott’s backup to start this season. Also, the Bengals lost to a team without a number one quarterback. After the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers brought in Mitch Trubisky to replace the star quarterback. However, Trubisky’s track record is not great. Trubisky wasn’t even a starting quarterback last season.
Is the Bengals Offensive Line the Issue?
Moreover, it begs to question why the Bengals have been playing at such a low tier level. The possible problem might lie with the new additions to the offensive line that were signed in the offseason. During the first two games of the season, the offensive line in Cincinnati did not give their quarterback Joe Burrow enough time to throw inside the pocket, leading to him being sacked 13 times.
All the blame cannot rest in the offensive line. Joe Burrow threw four interceptions in the game against the Steelers. Burrow did improve last week against the Cowboys. However, there are other issues that are continuously on display in the Bengals offense.
There hasn’t been a wide receiver in the offense that has made a consistent impact. The Bengals star receiver Ja’marr Chase has only pulled in 64 receiving yards in the past two games. Tee Higgins is the only player who is consistently picking up yards per catch. Although Higgins has been injured this season with a concussion. Higgins lasted issue was when he was evaluated for a concussion in the first quarter. However, he came back in the game and racked up 93 yards against the New York Jets. Hopefully, this will not be a persistent issue for Higgins. Overall, the Bengals have to find different ways of utilizing the wide receivers when unforeseen injuries take place or when players are having bad games.
Optimism for the Bengals
However, there is optimism surrounding the future of the Bengals this season. In their latest game, Joe Burrow led the Bengals to a 27-12 victory against the New York Jets. Burrow threw for 275 yard and three touchdowns against New York. He looked determined to bounce back and continue playing quarterback in an elite level, despite the inconsistencies of his wide receivers.
The Cincinnati Defense came out to play against the Jets. The Bengals defense made Jets quarterback Joe Flacco’s day unbearable. Flacco threw two interceptions and fumbled the ball two times during the duration of the game.
After the second loss against the Dallas Cowboys, Burrow came out and said at a news conference “We’re gonna be fine. We’re not worried about it.” That might not bring a sense of relief to Bengals fans, but it does demonstrate that the players are not going to give up.
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