The Cincinnati Bengals don’t have a lot to be excited about following their Week 1 win over the Cleveland Browns. First and foremost, they got the win and that shouldn’t be discounted, especially for a team with historically slow starts.
But, they do have some optimism about first-round pick Shemar Stewart, who had an impressive NFL debut even if he didn’t show up much in the stat sheet. He logged zero tackles, zero sacks, zero forced fumbles and zero interceptions. Yet, he was still good.
He was asked afterwards how his first game felt.
“Man, it felt great,” Stewart said after the game. “I’m like, ‘We’ve got this one in the bag. Let’s go home, baby!’”
Andrew Russell of Pro Football Focus broke down some of the deeper stats for Stewart.
Shemar Stewart in Week 1 vs the Browns:
26.1% pass rush win rate (2nd best among rookie DL)
3 QB hurries
41.7% positively graded play rate vs the run
He played disciplined, sound football and his PFF grade (83.2) was 3rd-best on the defensive side,” Russell posted on X.
Zac Taylor was very happy with Shemar Stewart’s performance
Following the 17-16 thankfully-Cleveland’s-kicker-isn’t-good win, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was just happy to get the victory even though you know he wanted to complain about a lot.
“There’s always adversity in Week 1,” Taylor said. “There’s always adversity when we play Cleveland. There’s always adversity when we’re on the road at Cleveland. It’s never simple. And so for our guys to just find a way to win it there at the end — I’m proud of them. The best outcome of this game was 1-0. Forget about the stats, forget about the score, forget about how it all played out.”
However, Taylor was still pleased by what he saw from his rookie players, which obviously includes Stewart.
“Yeah, very calm, collected. That’s what I saw,” Taylor said about the defensive rookies. There was a time we had two young linebackers out there; two rookies out there when (Bengals LB) Logan (Wilson) came out. I’m watching just to see their body language. Didn’t miss a beat. I think there are a lot of guys that fit that description. All those guys who got in there and got a chance to play. It was not too big for any of them. That’s why they’re here, because they’re all built like that. And so we’re going to have to call on all these guys as the season progresses.”
Shemar Stewart thinks practicing against Joe Burrow helps a lot
If you line up against Joe Burrow every day, it should be much easier when you have to line up against Joe Flacco. That’s just basic math.
And, Stewart said that’s exactly what happened on Sunday when playing the Browns.
“I felt great. I mean, you know, practices are going to be easier than ever going against Joe [Burrow] and all the guys on offense. So, you know, I think we’re ready for this,” Stewart said after the game in front of his locker.
Stewart didn’t log so much as a single tackle in the game, but still managed an 88.9 overall grade. He was the second-highest graded player on Cincy’s defense behind only Logan Wilson, who produced an 89.4 grade.
Bengals Rookie Shines Without Recording a Single Stat