The Cincinnati Bengals have rightfully received droves of criticism for the 1-4 start that features Joe Burrow playing at an MVPish level and being let down by a near-historically-bad defense.
Criticism went national after Cincinnati’s Week 5 overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens, too.
“That’s embarrassing,” ESPN’s Mina Kimes said of Cincinnati’s 1-4 record despite the hot start for the offense. “Your quarterback and wide receivers…are playing some of the best football of their entire careers but the organization has let them down…I’m not writing them off because the offense has been that good, but they have to be aggressive about improving this defense before this season becomes a lost one.”
Refreshingly, Kimes’ verbal beatdown of the Bengals went above the coaching staff and aimed at the front office, where Duke Tobin and Co. have failed to build even an average defense over the last few years.
That said, Kimes also hit Bengals head coach Zac Taylor for the widely panned conservative approach to overtime against the Ravens while Burrow is in “god mode,” a decision Taylor has since said he stands by — even if players like Tee Higgins disagree.
Unfortunately for the Bengals and fans, the organization doesn’t exactly have a history of getting aggressive near the NFL trade deadline to fix issues like this. And the problems on the defensive side of the ball after years of mismanaged roster building might just be too much to overcome midseason.
