The most recent Bengals upset leaves fans hoping for a fresh start
It was a difficult opening September for the Cincinnati Bengals. Following an 0-3 start, the mystique of a championship caliber contender was dead, and many critics were quick to dance on their freshly dug graves. But perhaps our men clad in orange and black were just taking their cues from the opening track of this edition’s playlist.
“As my memory rests, but never forgets what I lost. Wake me up when September ends.”
“Wake Me Up when September Ends” by Green Day
September did end with the Bengals waking up to capture their first victory of the 2024 season, a 34-24 win on the road at Carolina. The win was again paced by the Bengals high-flying offense and quarterback Joe Burrow.
Returning from last year’s season-ending wrist surgery, Burrow has performed spectacularly despite the Bengals losing record. Burrow leads the NFL in touchdown passes (12) and passer rating (113.6), is second in completion percentage (72.2%) and ranks third in passing yards (1,370).
Furthermore, the explosive plays have returned as Burrow is also tied for the league lead in passes of greater than 40 yards (5). Burrow said all offseason that he feels better and stronger than he’s ever felt, and it shows. Burrow is enjoying the best statistical start to a season in his illustrious career.
“Take on me, (Take on me)”
“Take on Me” by A-ha
Joe Burrow took on a lot of personal responsibility to perform well against the division rival Baltimore Ravens. “We know the opportunities we have going forward, but it’s our first divisional opponent. We’re 1-3, we need to get this one. I’m going to have to play damn near perfect,” he said.
Burrow was damn near perfect. He completed 76.9% of his passes for nearly 400 yards (392) and a personal best 5 touchdown passes to deliver one of his best games ever. Burrow guided the Bengals to accumulate 38 points against a Ravens defense that had only surrendered 10 points the previous week to a vaunted Buffalo Bills offense.
Burrow’s connection to his two favorite targets was also on display. Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase each hauled in two touchdown catches a piece, with the latter exploding for 193 receiving yards.
Aside from a late interception that Chase later took responsibility for, Burrow was nearly flawless. Throughout the Ravens game and this early 2024 season, Burrow had been delivering on the promise that prompted the Bengals to make him the cornerstone of their franchise by rewarding him with a record-breaking $275 million dollar contract.
So, when the Bengals recovered a Lamar Jackson turnover at the Baltimore 38-yard line in overtime with the opportunity to win the football game, what did the Bengals do? They took the ball away from Joe Burrow, their $275 million dollar man.
Instead of giving the ball to their franchise star who had been hot all afternoon and season, they ran the ball on three consecutive plays for short yardage to set up a long field goal. The usually sure-footed Evan McPherson eventually hooked the 53-yard attempt when the snap wasn’t handled cleanly.
“I feel like we should have tried at least one play and given it to one of our playmakers — me or Tee or [Andrei Iosivas] to try and get a first down,” Chase said. “That was what we’d be doing the whole game.”
Chase’s sidekick, Higgins, agreed. “Personally, I thought we should have gone a little more aggressive on the first and second down to get Evan in better field goal range,” he said.
Burrow had taken it upon himself to play at a near perfect level and position his team to win. With the game on the line, the Bengals coaching staff took the ball out of his hands.
“There’s gonna be a heartache tonight. A heartache tonight, I know. There’s gonna be a heartache tonight, I know. Lord, I know.”
“Heartache Tonight” by Eagles
As soon as McPherson missed that field goal in overtime, Bengals fans fundamentally knew what to expect next: a heartache was going to be coming tonight.
On the ensuing play, Ravens star running back, Derrick Henry, broke loose for 51 yards down to the Bengals 6-yard line. With perhaps the NFL’s all-time greatest kicker, Justin Tucker of the Ravens, at the ready, Henry’s long run essentially spelled “game over” for the Bengals.
Henry’s run was emblematic of the larger problem that had been on display all afternoon and all season. As good as the Bengals offense has been for most of this year, the Bengals defense has been equally as bad.
Cincinnati’s defense surrendered 520 yards of offense to Baltimore. The Bengals defense failed to stop the Ravens offense from scoring on any of their four possessions in the second half. Three times, Burrow and company scored touchdowns in the second half to secure a 10-point lead for Cincinnati. Three times, the Bengals defense allowed the Ravens to keep pace.
One single stop by the defense in the second half could have been the difference in the game. Only four times in the second half did the defense even force Baltimore to a third down. The Ravens converted on three of those. On the season, Cincinnati is the 2nd worst team in the league in terms of scoring defense surrendering 29 points per game.
What’s discouraging is that this bad Bengals defense is happening now, during what is potentially the final season of Burrow, Chase and Higgins all being together. That triumvirate is the foundation on which Cincinnati became a Super Bowl contender — and the book is closing.
When thinking about how the defense is damaging what should be a promising season, consider this statistic: Joe Burrow has the highest completion percentage and passer rating by a QB on a team that’s begun a season 1-4 or worse since 1950. We haven’t seen the likes of this since two decades before the league’s merger with the AFL.
What’s even more discouraging is that the frailties of this defense were evident last season, and things have failed to improve. The front office hasn’t consistently delivered on its draft picks or free agent acquisitions to upgrade at the key positions of need. Is there an ability to improve given the makeup of the current roster? Seems doubtful.
The final chapter of Burrow, Chase and Higgins is close to being finalized, and if the defense doesn’t demonstrate some improvement, the ending will be a sad one with a lot more heartache.
“The future’s in the air, I can feel it everywhere. Blowing with the wind of change.”
“Wind of Change” by Scorpions
“I know exactly how we’re 1-4. We’re not making enough plays to finish games,” Burrow said after the Baltimore loss.
Consider the four losses this season. Against New England trailing 16-10, Cincinnati gets the ball back with a minute left needing a touchdown to win. Bengals go 3 plays and out. Against Kansas City leading 25-23 with under a minute left and needing to make one final stop against the Chiefs on a 4th and 16, the Bengals give up an interference penalty that sets Kansas City up for the winning field goal as time expires. Against the Commanders, the Bengals narrowed Washington’s lead to 31-26 in the 4th quarter. Needing a stop, the defense allows a nearly 8-minute drive covering 70 yards resulting in a Commanders touchdown that puts the game out of reach at 38-26 with two minutes remaining.
Against the Ravens, the Bengals had one last opportunity in regulation. The game tied 38-38, the Bengals had 1:35 to go just needing a field goal to win. In the first play of that series, Burrow is sacked. Second play, a Burrow incompletion to Higgins. Staring down a 3rd and 17 to go, the Bengals ran it out and played for overtime.
Of course, we already mentioned the conservative play calling in overtime resulting in a missed McPherson field goal. All four games, the Bengals had their opportunities to win. All four times, the Bengals failed to make the requisite plays to secure victory.
Bengals center Ted Karras said it best: “I’d say the tale of the tape is we are the Would-Be Kings. We are four possessions away from having a great record, but we’re not and we gotta find it within ourselves to finish out these games, make a play when we need it.”
“Something’s got to change,” Burrow said. “Not sure what that is. There’s been tough conversations had.”
I’m hopeful that “tough conversations” are happening across the entire Bengals organization from the coaching staff to the front office to the scouting department. Many are responsible for the Bengals current predicament. This disastrous 1-4 start to the season needs to usher in both short- and long-term changes if the Bengals organization is truly committed to delivering a championship for the city of Cincinnati.
“Although we’ve come to the end of the road. Still, I can’t let you go.”
“End of the Road” by Boyz II Men
With a 1-4 record, the end of the road seems near.
Playoff possibilities have almost faded. But — once again — remember that these Bengals are essentially four possessions away from being undefeated. Three of their four losses have come against three of the best teams in the league: the two-time defending champion Chiefs and two of the top three offenses in the league within the Commanders and Ravens. Then consider the next four games ahead: At the 2-3 New York Giants, at the 1-4 Cleveland Browns then home to the 2-2 Philadelphia Eagles and the 2-3 Las Vegas Raiders.
These are all winnable games against teams inferior to the likes of the Chiefs, Ravens and Commanders. Piece together those 4 wins and the Bengals are back to 5-4, which is the same record they had in 2022 when they made a run all the way to the AFC Championship Game.
If they lose one or two of those games, then the 2024 season may truly have reached the end of the road for all intents and purposes. As much as it personally pains me to suffer through the agony of watching these difficult losses each week, still I can’t let the Bengals go. Keep grinding Bengals fans. Who-Dey?!
Jon Bunch is an avid life-long Bengals fanatic. Raised in the 740. West Pointer, Army and Iraq War veteran. Passionate evangelist of the Who-Dey spirit. @WhoDeyBunch
