Cincinnati officially has a big problem on its hands. The Bengals sit at 1-4 after the first quarter of the season, greatly hurting their chances of making the playoffs. This franchise is no stranger to slow starts, going 0-2 over the last two seasons to finish above .500, but this is a different level of self-inflicted problems.
The offense has largely returned to form, scoring 38 points with several big plays against the Baltimore Ravens this week, but the defense has fallen toward one of the worst units in the NFL. Against a quarterback of Lamar Jackson’s caliber, his defensive effort simply wasn’t going to be enough, and the Bengals could very well have a hard time overcoming his defense for the rest of the season.
According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, the Bengals rank 30th in expected points allowed per play (0.10) on defense this season. They haven’t done a good job keeping that side of the ball loaded with talent since they made it to the Super Bowl a few years ago against the Rams, and now they find themselves in a situation where they can’t stop a nosebleed, much. minus a two-time MVP quarterback. The Bengals have allowed 32.3 points per game in their last four games, which includes a 24-point effort by the Panthers, who just got smothered by the Bears last weekend. No matter how many 50-yard touchdowns Burrow can throw to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, if they can’t stop anyone on the other end, they’re still going to lose games.
That’s what really made this loss so frustrating for Bengals fans. The offense was once again what it was expected to be against a Ravens defense that barely held the Bills to 10 points last week. Burrow was playing with confidence again, Chase and Higgins dominated the Ravens’ coverage, and the offensive line held up pretty well given how many times they threw the ball. But it just didn’t matter because the Bengals defense was easily picked apart by the Ravens offense.
Baltimore went an astonishing 10-for-15 on third down attempts in this game, averaged 6.8 yards per play, and only had one first down via a penalty. The Ravens also gained 520 total yards, recorded 30 first downs and had a red zone efficiency (touchdowns per possession) of 83.3%, according to TruMedia. They just walked up and down the field doing whatever they wanted.
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Jackson threw for 345 yards and four touchdowns, and Derrick Henry also ran roughshod over the Bengals’ defense en route to 92 yards and a touchdown on the ground. The Ravens should continue to be one of the best offenses in the league and still have another game to play against the Bengals this year. There’s no reason to think Baltimore won’t be able to score at will the second time they play, barring injury.
By expected points allowed per play standards, only the Jaguars and Rams have been worse than the Bengals defense from an efficiency standpoint. No one expects those teams to be contenders at the end of the day, but unfortunately this is the level of teams the Bengals are at at this point in the season. They have so many holes on defense, from linebacker to the secondary, that there isn’t even a quick fix they can find at the trade deadline that will get them back to where they want to be. This is a multi-year process unless some of their younger players develop at a rapid pace this season.
Buckle up, Bengals fans. This season could be long. The offense will give them a chance in any game, but it’s not fair to ask them to score 40 points week after week just to have a chance to win a game. Good offenses like the Commanders and Ravens are going nowhere, and now those opponents appear to be too tough for this defense.