The Cincinnati Bengals suffered a blowout at the hands of the Cleveland Browns in 32-13 fashion on Monday night.
Little to nothing went right for the Bengals as a team that has owned them in recent years went to work. Cincinnati suffered miserable performances by key players and one very significant injury in the process of falling to 4-4.
A look at some key notes and items coming out of the loss.
Quick Hits
— 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.
Key Stat
440-229: The total yardage for each offense. But really we could cherry pick pretty much anything from this rout. Joe Burrow was constantly under pressure, the offense struggled and the defense didn’t show much of a fight.
Game Balls
RB Chris Evans: The explosive rookie looked like the solution to the Ja’Marr Chase absence with a 26-yard catch in the first quarter. Then…he hardly saw the field the rest of the way.
DE Sam Hubbard: The defense was a mess, but Hubbard was his usual high-motor self with eight total tackles and a sack.
Top Takeaway
Yikes: This is going to be a tough one to recover from. The Bengals now have to turn around and play the Panthers on a short week before the bye and boast an 0-3 mark in the AFC North. There simply aren’t many silver linings to take given notable injuries and concerning problems that don’t appear to be going away.
