Week after week, I feel like I am writing the same article over and over again. The Bengals offense outplays the other team by far, but Cincinnati finds a new way to lose and break the hearts of everyone watching. While the offensive line now has problems, this offense has been one of the best in football, yet the defense, play calling, and turnovers continue to haunt this team week after week. The frustration on Joe’s face on the sideline is exactly how all fans are feeling, which is exhausting. Can Cincinnati turn this season around? I believe the answer is yes, in terms of making the playoffs. However, this team finds a new way to shock the league each week and I wouldn’t be surprised if the bad luck, bad play calling, and horrific defense became too much and this rollercoaster took a downward spiral into a losing season. Let’s take a look at some random stats and comments at this point in the season.
Random stats and comments
· Joe Burrow leads the NFL in passing yards with 2,672 and touchdowns (24). He is having the best season thus far in his career. Shame on the front office for mishandling the defense and wasting away a Burrow year.
· Ja’Marr Chase leads the NFL in receiving yards (981), touchdowns (10), YAC (451), and first downs (44). He has more touchdowns than the total receivers on the Bills, Colts, Cardinals, Cowboys, Chargers, Panthers, Chiefs, Commanders, and 16 more teams. Woah! Pay him, he is the best offensive player in football.
· Trey Hendrickson leads the NFL in sacks (11), tackles for loss (12), and is outperforming Garrett, Crosby, Watt, and others with “bigger names” than Trey. How is this team losing?
· The record for NFL teams who score more than 33 points this season excluding the Bengals is 38-1. The Bengals are 2-3-Baffling.
· The Bengals are 0-3 against the best two teams in the AFC, losing by a total of five points.
· Cordell Volson ranks 79/79 in pressures allowed and has taken a massive step back, as he is the worst-performing guard in the NFL. Alex Cappa is the third worst in the NFL.
· There have only been two instances in the history of football where a quarterback had 30+ completions, four+ touchdown passes, 300+ passing yards, multiple 40+ yard touchdown passes, and no more than one interception while losing. Both instances in history are Joe Burrow against the Ravens this season.
· Ja’Marr Chase set the record for the most yards against a team in two games in a season ever in NFL history (457). Somehow, Cincinnati lost them both.
· At what point do we blame Tee Higgins as well? That guy is never on the field. Whoever pays him wide receiver one money will look at his hamstring in agony over the next four years. The best ability is availability and Higgins is always hurt.
Front office blunders
The Bengals front office is absolutely 110% to blame for the mishandling of this organization since the Super Bowl run. Readers walks, Mixon leaves, Bates walks, they haven’t paid Chase, they’ve failed over and over again at drafting, they continue to be ghosts at the trade deadline, they brought in a running back and immediately tried to work out Leonard Fournette, and they failed to acquire Xavien Howard. Cincinnati’s front office continues to fail the fans, players, and staff who put in the work without giving the pieces to actually win a ring. They are to blame for their negligence and cheapness to truly try and win with Joe Burrow. Tick tock, as Burrow is getting older and older.