The Bengals Have Become A One-Trick Pony
Credit: Kareem Elgazzar-USA TODAY Sports
The Cincinnati Bengals are sitting at 3-5 and the fear of this season lasting just 17 weeks for the boys in stripes is beginning to feel like a reality. Of course, we all loved to hear Joe Burrow say, “We have to win 7 of the next 9, and that’s doable.” We all know that No. 9 is capable of a streak like that, and I truly do believe that he believes they can do it. Unfortunately, many other people don’t.
Being a huge MMA fan, this Bengals team reminds me of a football version of former UFC superstar Ronda Rousey. Hear me out! Ronda was a problem for her opponents, she was an Olympic medalist in Judo during the 2008 games. When she first came on the scene, her opponents couldn’t stop her. It was the same thing almost every fight, Ronda would grab them, judo toss them to the canvas, slap them in an arm bar, and game, set, match.
But eventually, the competition figured out how to defend this strategy. They realized they had to make her win it with other tools in her skill set, which she just didn’t have. After that, she had two back-to-back brutal knockout losses that sent her into retirement.
In a lot of ways, the Bengals are Rousey. A runner-up in the big game a few years back and, dare I say, Burrow is Cincinnati’s judo toss and Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase are their lethal arm bar. Sadly though, our opponents have figured out how to defend that and we don’t have any other tools that are going to win ball games.
This season, since week one, Bengals fans have been trying to pinpoint the problem on one particular thing that can be explained as the reason for this awful season. Some say it’s the defense, some say it’s the coaching, and hell, some even say it’s the “Skyline Curse,” and that the Bengals should have stayed with Gold Star. To all that, I say a simple “Yeah.” It’s way easier to pinpoint the one and only thing that is above average on this team, and that’s the passing game.
Going into this week the Bengals are in the top seven in all of the following categories: pass attempts, completions, passing yards, yards per passing attempt, and passing first downs per game. Needless to say, these are important to a team and if you can build a halfway decent team, that isn’t predictable, around this attack, you’re going to be a threat.
The problem is the Bengals aren’t halfway decent.
Opposing teams know that the best chance they have against the Bengals comes if they’re able to keep the ball out of Burrow’s hands. Not only are they doing that, they’re keeping Burrow off the field altogether. The Bengals are sitting damn near the bottom of the league at 26th in average time of possession with 27:56.
The defense is giving the passing game absolutely zero help while also ranking 30th(!) in first downs per game, allowing an atrocious 22.3 a game. If it weren’t for Trey Hendrickson, it’s almost guaranteed Cincy’s defense would be last in sacks per game. Even with Hendrickson, they’re 29th in the NFL with an amazing 1.5 per contest. On a brighter note, they’re at least in the mid-20s (…24th) in yards allowed per game (358.6). The run defense is surrendering 139 of those, and allowing another 219 via the pass.
Yeah, just in case you’re wondering they’re giving up 25.4 points a game. Opposing offensive coordinators are having the best day of their lives when they come to the Queen City.
I wish I could say that the defense was the worst part of the Bengals after listing out those horrendous stats, but like the kids say, the Bengals’ Rushing Offense has entered the chat. Zac Taylor is dialing up the run just 22.1 times per game (only one more than the last-place Seahawks).
Zack Moss and Chase Brown, who I truly do believe show promise, are still underwhelming. The two are averaging a horrible 89.8 yards combined per game (28th), giving them an average of 4.1 yards per carry (26th). These numbers were much better and higher during Cincinnati’s 3-1 stretch, but Taylor’s coaching flaws are being exposed. The rushing “attack” gets deployed on only 38.5% of the total plays.
So, as you can see by these numbers, the Bengals are indeed a one-trick pony and defensive coordinators have learned how to play against Burrow and company. Honestly, just looking at these defensive and rushing statistics, it’s surprising that they won three games. Burrow has to play flawlessly, as the Bengals are 1-3 when Joe Burrow turns the ball over. But I’ll go back to thinking, “Hey, if Burrow says he can go 7-2 in the next nine games, I believe him.” If I say that enough, maybe I’ll start believing it.
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