The former quarterback for Atlanta and Indianapolis still has hopes for this Bengals squad.
On Sunday morning, before the Cincinnati Bengals faced the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland, Matt Ryan talked with his new colleagues about the possibility of the Bengals making a playoff run.
The 14-veteran who has garnered countless accolades, including Offensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and MVP, made it very clear how he expects this Cincinnati squad to get there.
The Bengals will be contenders pic.twitter.com/lLT4fZX7se
— Faux Joey Brrr (@FauxJeaux) October 20, 2024
The offense still didn’t quite live up to expectations, but they were still able to put up more points than the Browns. That was the first time they have achieved that in Cleveland since Burrow has been in charge.
For the second straight game, the defense showed up big. Cleveland hurt itself before the Bengals even showed up by trading away Amari Cooper. Even with Cooper, the Browns pride themselves on the run game, but not on Sunday. This Bengals’ defense held them to 77 yards total, with Dorian Thompson-Robinson (DTR) with 44 of them.
As long as the Bengals’ defense can keep up the aggressive play, the offense needs to step up its game and get back to scoring 30+ points. If both sides do their job, this is a top-five team. The Bengals have a big task at hand with the Eagles coming to town. Cincinnati has stopped the run the past two weeks and is now shooting for the hat trick.
Three straight weeks of shutting down the ground attack, especially with Saquon Barkley coming to town, would be an impressive feat. He just put up 176 yards against his former Giants team but only 47 against the Browns a couple of weeks ago.