Unfortunately, poor starts are tradition around here.
Slow starts aside, no one expected that kind of disaster in Week 1 against a huge underdog at home.
The Cincinnati Bengals looked terrible, probably the worst they have with Joe Burrow at QB since his rookie year.
There wasn’t a lot to love about the game, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take some things away. So here are five things we learned from Cincinnati’s 16-10 loss to the New England Patriots.
Joe Burrow’s wrist is fine (for now, at least)
The offense was bad, and Burrow didn’t throw very far downfield often. But the problem isn’t his wrist. He had the same zip as always. There just wasn’t anything there.
Blame the schemes, the absence of Tee Higgins, the matchup, or just Zac Taylor and staff being outcoached, but don’t blame the freakish injury from last season. Burrow, as always, will catch fire at some point in the season.
The lack of offseason preparation is undeniable at this point
This was supposed to be one of easiest games on the schedule for the Bengals.
But instead of cruising to victory, they looked flat, a bit overwhelmed, and uncharacteristically sloppy.
Three fumbles (two costly lost ones), only four third down conversions, and no real response for the Patriots’ gameplan were, in a word, embarrassing.
And Zac Taylor didn’t really have an explanation other than poor tackling and turnovers, both of which seem related to coaching to some degree. At this point, there’s no denying that his teams do not start hot (the Bengals are 1-10 in the first two games of the season under Taylor).
The issue might stem from reduced intensity in the offseason to prevent injuries. Or it could just be that it takes Taylor and his staff a bit of time to figure out how to win with the guys they have each season. Either way, it’s getting a little old.
Joe Mixon wasn’t the issue with the running game
Remember when fans complained of Joe Mixon not hitting holes fast enough and not being a good fit schematically? Well, the Patriots were able to take away the Bengals’ deep game and force Cincinnati to throw short because the running game still isn’t able to provide much relief.
Not to blame the running backs, but Zach Moss and Chase Brown carried the ball six times in the first half for only thirteen yards. And the Bengals finished with just 70 total rushing yards on a day when the passing offense needed help badly.
Mixon, meanwhile, carried the ball for a career-high 30 times in his debut for the Houston Texans, notching 159 yards on the ground, only making it clearer that it is the Bengals who have an issue with scheming and blocking for ball carriers.
The Bengals finally have a punter
Sadly, the most positive thing from the game was the emergence of Ryan Rehkow from the punter battle. The rookie from BYU booted four balls for a whopping 258 yards including an 80 yarder that almost pinned New England within the one yard line.
There are no easy fixes when it comes to replacing top talent
The Bengals were a bad run defense with DJ Reader. Somehow we convinced ourselves that quantity over quality might do the trick; Cincinnati added some talented defensive tackles in Sheldon Rankins and Kris Jenkins. And they, along with the veterans on the team, were expected to somehow hold down the fort without Reader.
But then Rankins, Zach Carter, BJ Hill, and the rest (Jenkins was out with a thumb injury) got absolutely gashed by Rhamondre Stevenson running behind what was supposed to be a shoddy offensive line.
The offseason was the time to find a real solution for perhaps the biggest weakness on the team (rushing defense). Now it’s too late, so it’ll be on the offense to find a way to outscore and out-gain opponents for this team to win.
