The Cincinnati Bengals got their lunch money stolen from them on Sunday by the Minnesota Vikings in a 48-10 rout. It was as thorough of a pounding as the score would indicate.
Some are wondering how superstar wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins only combined for six catches in such a lopsided loss. It makes a little more sense when you consider quarterback Jake Browning was 19-27 passing for 140 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Bengals‘ head coach Zac Taylor was asked why he didn’t get his big names involved in the offense sooner.
“We didn’t have a lot of opportunities to get first downs. We kept turning the ball over,” Taylor said on Monday. “Every time we crossed the 50-yard line we were putting the ball on the ground or we threw the ball to them. That minimizes your opportunities and you get late in the game. We are trying different things to just gain some momentum going froward at that point.
“They challenge. They do a good job. They don’t make it easy to get the ball to Ja’Marr, I promise you that. Some they are trying to take away, same with Tee, we couldn’t find a good rhythm to get those guys the ball enough.”
Cincinnati Bengals didn’t get tertiary pieces the ball either
It wasn’t just the big-ticket stars who didn’t contribute on Sunday, it was also the complementary pieces. Let’s be honest, when you lose a game by 38 points, no one contributed. Even the water boys were slow to distribute their buckets.
Tight end Mike Gesicki has five catches for 38 yards in three games this season and caught just one pass for six yards in Minnesota. Andrei Iosivas has just one catch for 12 yards the entire year and had zero targets on Sunday.
Taylor explained on Monday that it had to do with personnel or something that wouldn’t have really mattered anyway (again, see: 38 points).
“We were in a lot of 12 personnel (two tight ends, one running back). Twelve personnel, in theory, regulates their defense a little bit in terms of what we’d seen,” Taylor said. Andrei is subbing in for those other two guys (Noah Fant and Drew Sample). That’s not how we are going to play the entire season.
“I think Andrei over the course of a 17 game season this is going to take shape for him. He’s a guy that is patient, understands his role. Appreciate the role he plays for us because a lot of it is dirty stuff. He puts his nose in there and gets it done. His opportunities will come and they will take shape over the course of the season. There’s nothing he’s done to minimize his role. That’s just the way that this game has played out for us.”
The Cincinnati Bengals have a quarterback problem
Taylor can say what he wants about getting his playmakers involved and he’s certainly not wrong to want to make that happen. But, the problem could be the guy actually getting them the ball.
Browning wasn’t good on Sunday and he’s certainly not some facsimile of Joe Burrow. Taylor tried to praise him a bit, but everyone knows it was half-hearted.
“Yeah, we got to protect the ball, number one,” Taylor said after the game. “That was – we came into this game, we got to protect the ball. So he had two turnovers, and then we’ll watch the tape and assess from there. I thought he did a great job managing the pre snap operation. That was significant going into this game, getting us into the right call, getting the protection calls, operating within the clock. I thought he did a great job mentioning that, and we’ll watch the tape and make an assessment where it is.”
There is no glossing over the Burrow injury and the Bengals either need to decide that Browning can do this or not. If he can’t, you are either throwing an entire season away or hitting the trade market pronto.
Bengals’ Head Coach Scrambling For Answers Following Loss