The Cincinnati Bengals need to take a long look in the mirror while fans worry about the season-long ramifications of the team’s 32-13 “Monday Night Football” loss to the Cleveland Browns.
To say the ramifications and takeaways are important would be an understatement.
The Bengals now have to figure out an offense that couldn’t get it going against a team missing its top corner and a defense that looked downright lost and suffered a major injury in the process.
Never mind those pesky season-long outlook ideas with the team 0-3 in the AFC North.
These are the big takeaways and in-game notes from the primetime flop.
The Jonah Williams conversation
It’s coming and it isn’t pretty. Williams’ rough season continued on Monday night in brutal fashion as he repeatedly got whipped by Myles Garrett and others. Some he had help, some he didn’t. Either way, he wasn’t looking like a franchise left tackle who deserves the big money he’d get in free agency, which is a miserable place for the franchise to be.
CB depth is a major problem
Eli Apple missed the game and Chidobe Awuzie was eventually carted off with an injury. That left Tre Flowers suddenly playing outside and he got beat for a touchdown before also leaving with an injury. It’s suddenly emergency time at corner with less than a day before the trade deadline. Rookie safety Dax Hill came in and played corner before quickly getting beat for a 53-yard catch. Something has to change, and fast.
The gameplan was again questionable
It’s not fair to put everything on Zac Taylor, not when his offensive line went out there and got whipped that badly and targets had bad drops. But even without Ja’Marr Chase, an inability to put up big numbers on an average Cleveland defense missing its top corner is a big problem. It’s one that keeps popping up if Burrow and Chase aren’t out there overcoming it or masking it.
Tee Higgins, WR1?
Most, even outside the Bengals fanbase, are happy to call Higgins a No. 1 wideout for most other teams. That’s fair, but it sure didn’t look like it on Monday night. Higgins had little impact on the game for most of the night before scoring a touchdown late when the game was already decided. It’s one of those things you don’t want to overreact to right now, but this will certainly come up when talking about his eventual extension or trip to free agency.
Defensive woes
The Bengals defense had a habit of getting gashed at times this year but toughening up majorly in the second half. Not so on Monday night. The Browns lined up almost disrespecting the Bengals with how obvious it was they would run, only to mow the defense over anyway to the tune of 172 yards and three touchdowns. Even worse, the usual second-half adjustments just…weren’t there. A failure at all levels and a pretty concerning one with a game against Titans running back Derrick Henry on the schedule soon.
The season isn't lost...
…but it’s darn close. The Bengals are 4-4 and 0-3 in the AFC North. That AFC isn’t a powerhouse by any means and they could always win out the rest of the way in the division. But this was the smooth-looking three-game stretch before the bye to really capitalize on. Instead, they’re just trying to avoid falling under .500 and still have a post-bye stretch that includes Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Kansas City, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, New England, Buffalo and Baltimore. It’s a brutal, brutal stretch and based on what the team showed Monday night, they have a long, long way to go before being able to tackle it well and make a run.
In-game notes
— Backup Chris Evans made the first big play of the game on a 26-yard gainer down the sideline from Joe Burrow. Fans have pleaded for the team to give the running back more looks and it’s clearly part of the plan with Ja’Marr Chase out.
— Very bad luck on the first offensive drive for the Bengals as they marched for what seemed like an inevitable score. Myles Garrett tipped a pass at the line that was then intercepted.
— Kevin Huber had a pair of meh punts in the first half and it’s becoming a problem. The team might have to reevaluate the position with Drue Chrisman hanging around.
— Bengals defense couldn’t find an answer for Amari Cooper in the first half while falling behind 8-0. Adjusting well and improving in the second half had been a theme of the past 1.5 seasons now, though.
— Special teams got sloppy after that first touchdown and were called for 12 men on the field. Browns then went for two and converted.
— No nice way to put it: Jonah Williams was getting absolutely destroyed in the first half, a continuation of his very average season so far.
— A major red flag for the defense: Star No. 1 corner Chidobe Awuzie needed a cart to leave the field after visiting the blue medical tent. The quick out designation right after leaving the field said it all.
— Tre Flowers got left on an island against Amari Cooper and it went about as expected. He’s more of a tight-end stopper, but Awuzie and Eli Apple missing made him go out there. He later left with an injury.
— Bengals inexplicably left Burrow in the game to take shots with it already decided. Criticism will get met with coach-speak about playing to win and such, but we’d be having a much different conversation if he had suffered an injury down 32-13 with four minutes left.
