The Cincinnati Bengals risk falling into a hole of historically not-great implications if they can’t come up with a win during Monday night’s primetime showdown against the Los Angeles Rams.
Before the season, this was a fun Super Bowl rematch game with that as the focal point, a storyline that was a layup for the NFL to schedule.
Buy Bengals TicketsNow, with the Bengals at 0-2 and Joe Burrow dealing with a calf injury, this already classifies as the most important game of the season — especially after Baltimore lost and the AFC North seems wide open.
Here’s a look at some of the central storylines around this one and a prediction before kickoff.
What happens at QB?
The big one. Burrow has obviously been pushing to play and it has been clear all week he at least has a shot. Otherwise, the team wouldn’t have let him take reps away from Jake Browning. That culminated in Burrow reportedly taking the first-team reps in the walkthrough on Sunday. The thing is, Burrow won’t be 100 percent if he starts, so the offense could look very much like it did the first two weeks. And yet that would be better than starting Browning, who hasn’t attempted a pass in the pros when it matters. AJ McCarron, just added to the practice squad, presumably won’t see a snap because he just arrived and doesn’t know the offense. That’s the issue — this goes deeper than whether or not Burrow plays.
The new o-line vs. Aaron Donald
Contrary to how it might seem at times, Cincinnati’s new-look offensive line looked good over the first two weeks, in part because the ball came out so fast. Lines tend to appear worse than they really are when they play the likes of Myles Garrett and Baltimore’s array of pass-rushers. Unfortunately, the line doesn’t get a break in this regard with Aaron Donald in town now. It might need to hold up even longer than the first two weeks if the coaches try to implement some longer dropbacks and route trees, too — all potentially with an already-injured quarterback.
WR usage
Ja’Marr Chase wasn’t shy this week about wanting to see more deep shots down the field. As he explained it (quite well, really), those sorts of shots will make it easier for some of the shorter, fast stuff to be more effective. He’s right, though some of the playbook limitations were because the coaches were trying to prevent a Burrow re-injury, as he was clearly uncomfortable planting and throwing on that foot. Zac Taylor and Co. will need to be super creative to find a balance regardless of who the quarterback is.
Where's the pass-rush?
Trey Hendrickson and Co. disappeared last week and it ended up costing the entire defense dearly. If they’re lucky, Joseph Ossai is all the way back and really beefs up the rotation. But they can’t let an older quarterback like Matt Stafford hang back unbothered while talented wideouts eventually work themselves open.
The revamped secondary
The new safety room that has Nick Scott and Dax Hill as starters has looked pretty good, but the former’s coming back from a concussion now. Chidobe Awuzie, clearly still getting his legs back under him after rehabbing a season-ending knee injury, let up a touchdown in coverage last week. The secondary will need a continued upswing in order to put the entire defense in a position to carry the offense through this one, if need be.
Prediction: Bengals 23, Rams 20
Whoa, right? Look, this Rams team isn’t bad…but they are stuck in a semi-rebuild. If the interior of the offensive line can hold up, they don’t have a scary pass-rusher on the edge and the corners are very exploitable, especially by these Bengals wideouts. And defensively, if Lou Anarumo can dial up some nice pressure, it’s not like Cooper Kupp is out there to torch the secondary. That’s a lot of what ifs? going on, sure. The offensive play-calling needs to see a dramatic improvement and the defense needs to do some heavy lifting. But a sense of desperation at home on primetime in a whiteout with Burrow possibly risking it all…it’s winnable. And this team has been here before with the season seemingly on the line before October.
