The Bengals proved that much from the start of this year. They had five turnovers in a season-opening loss to Pittsburgh. Their offensive line gave up a total of 13 sacks to the Steelers and Cowboys in consecutive defeats. The defense couldn’t find a way to shut down Dallas backup quarterback Cooper Rush and all the magic that Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow generated in 2021 basically evaporated. It was like the clock had struck midnight and the fantasy feel-good story of a year ago had morphed back into a bungling squad that simply had too many ways to beat itself.
The reality is that Cincinnati had opportunities to win both of those games, as it lost by three points on each occasion. The Bengals faced two talented defenses that feature two of the best pass rushers in football (the Steelers’ T.J. Watt and the Cowboys’ Micah Parsons). More than anything, Burrow needed to stop playing as if big plays to his talented wide receivers were his birthright. He held the ball too long and forced too many throws at the start of this season that simply were bad decisions. He was more efficient against the Jets (23 of 36, 275 yards and three touchdowns) and his protection was markedly better (two sacks allowed).
Burrow basically discovered what Patrick Mahomes learned in Kansas City early last season: Once you establish yourself as a big-play offense, opponents aren’t going to give you big plays.
“That’s been a huge part of the early part of our season,” Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan told me. “You come into the season feeling so good because you have all these players, we’re all together and we’ve got the same system. We felt great in training camp and everybody was excited. Then you get into the first game of the season and teams are like, ‘We’re not going to let you do that stuff anymore.’ It’s been a little bit of a learning period for Joe, in that you’re not going to just go out there and throw the ball all over the lot whenever you want. There are a lot of good coaches and players — prideful coaches and players — who don’t want that to happen.”
The Bengals aren’t panicking about this slow start because they’ve been down this road before. Last year was their first winning season since 2015 and they won only six games in two seasons under head coach Zac Taylor before that magical Super Bowl year. This is a team that built itself up when nobody outside the building was betting on its chances for success. If anything, they’re probably more comfortable with the doubters circling and the concerns mounting.
The difference this year is that there is still plenty of talent in the room along with one of the game’s best young quarterbacks.
“We have a team that is about to regroup and figure it out,” said wide receiver Tyler Boyd. “The only thing that is different now is that we’ve had more success. We had a nice playoff run and made it to the Super Bowl. What you get now is a lot of people who still don’t believe in us. They think the Super Bowl was a one-and-done thing. So we still play with that chip on our shoulder. We still feel like we have to prove people wrong.”
That’s the right attitude to have when you’re the Bengals, who will host the undefeated Miami Dolphins on Thursday night. There’s not a more predictable cliché at this time of year than the Super Bowl hangover, the notion that the team that loses that game invariably falls on its face the following season. The Bengals started out giving people ample reason to think they belong in that category. They’re also too skilled for that narrative to apply to them as we move deeper into this year.
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