The Bengals Are Once Again Counting On A Return To The Mean
Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
It’s never fun to start 0-2 as a member of the AFC North, especially when you were considered a Super Bowl contender two weeks ago. It hurts even worse when those two losses were at home to a New England Patriots team that was supposed to be the dregs of the NFL, and the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs in heartbreakingly close fashion.
Being a Cincinnati Bengals kinda sucks right now, not gonna lie.
FINAL: Chiefs 26, #Bengals 25
Cincinnati certainly looked like the team you thought they would be to open the season. They felt like the better team today.
Between scoop-and-score fumble and fourth-and-16, blew one that was in the bag.
Any way you cut it, 0-2 again.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) September 15, 2024
But hey, at least we’re not Baltimore Ravens fans?
The Ravens are 0-2 for the first time since 2015 pic.twitter.com/GX2r3B7X4U
— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) September 15, 2024
Schadenfreude only goes so far, though. Not only is 0-2 a bleak feeling, but for Cincinnati, it’s all too familiar.
“We’ve been here before, unfortunately, and so we know what this feels like,” head coach Zac Taylor said. “We know it’s a long season. We know we can get ourselves out of it, stick together, get our emotions in check with an extra day this week.”
While the winning percentage is currently at a paltry .000, recent history has shown that early-season losing records are not indicative of the Bengals’ true ability. Rather, the losses are outliers. But recent history is not on their side. Since the schedule expanded to 17 games in 2021, three out of 21 teams to start 0-2 have made the playoffs. Fortunately, one of those teams was the 2022 Cincinnati Bengals.
Another bit of good news is that, unlike 2023, in which their two opening losses were against division rivals, neither of their opening losses in 2024 were to AFC North teams. The Bengals, who don’t tend to hit their stride until they’re a few games into the season, won’t play their first AFC North opponent until Week 5.
The best thing the city of Cincinnati can do is not panic; rather, they should let the season return to the mean (or, wait for things to balance out, for those of you who didn’t pay attention in math class).
And for Who Dey Nation, the mean is pretty damn good as of late.
Tough to think silver linings, but after a terrible opener, that showed pretty clearly that the Bengals are going to be a force again in the AFC. Lots of good to take from it—stuff that cost them the game was correctable.
No one will be surprised if we see a rematch on 1/26.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) September 15, 2024
Even with the Week 2 loss in Kansas City, the fans began to see glimpses of the Bengals’ return to elite form. On offense, Joe Burrow silenced all the panic about his wrist by throwing for 258 yards and two touchdowns — and did so without Tee Higgins in the lineup. Cincy’s defense forced Kansas City to commit three turnovers, the third of which predictably landed at No. 1 on Monday’s Top Ten Plays on SportsCenter.
CAM TAYLOR-BRITT INTERCEPTION OF THE YEAR
pic.twitter.com/9zsgHOCxMp— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) September 15, 2024
It’s hard to say “The Bengals had a moral victory,” especially given the fact that the close loss still leaves the team two back in the standings from the Pittsburgh Steelers. That said, Sunday’s game was a night-and-day improvement from their Week 1 dud against the Patriots. If Cincinnati couldn’t get that W, they could at least give the fans some reassurance.
Alas, the Bengals feel like a contender again. Which is quite a bit better than this time last week.
— Chris Roling (@Chris_Roling) September 15, 2024
But now is the time for actual victories, and the Bengals have a golden opportunity to get back on track with a soft upcoming schedule. In Week 3, Cincinnati will play the Washington Commanders, whose pass defense ranked dead-last in the NFL in yards per game in 2023. Through two weeks in 2024, Washington surrendered a league-high six passing touchdowns allowed.
The three weeks after that see the Bengals play (in order) the Carolina Panthers, Baltimore Ravens, and New York Giants, all of whom are currently 0-2. Carolina has been especially putrid, as they’ve both scored the fewest points in the NFL (13) and allowed the most points (73).
Aiding their return to normalcy will be players returning to full health. Barring a setback, Higgins will be fully available for the Bengals on Monday against Washington. The defensive line — which is dangerously thin at this moment — will likely see youngsters Kris Jenkins, McKinnley Jackson, and Myles Murphy return from injury within the next few weeks. Amarius Mims, the Bengals’ blue-chip prospect at right tackle, is also expected to return in the near future.
Assuming all those players come back from the inactive list during this upcoming stretch, there’s every reason to believe that Cincinnati can come back to contend for the AFC crown.
“We know what kind of team we are,” receiver Andrei Iosivas said after the loss to the Chiefs. “We’re one of the best teams in the AFC and we showed it today.”
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