The Cincinnati Bengals showed plenty against the Baltimore Ravens on “Sunday Night Football” in Week 5, a 19-17 loss.
Some of the lessons thrown out there by Joe Burrow and Co. were repeats, such as initially struggling to run the football, iffy play-calling and slow starts.
Others were new, such as one big-time absence on the offensive side of the football.
Coming out of the loss, here’s a look at some of the biggest takeaways and other details to know as the Bengals start recovering from the AFC North slugfest and next to turn attention to the New Orleans Saints in Week 6.
The running game remains...erratic
The Bengals once again just couldn’t get anything going on the ground up the middle in this one. In the second half, they found some success rushing out of the shotgun formation, and then in power sets late on short yardage. But it’s a small consolation prize and nothing more, especially if defenses make that adjustment in future weeks. Whatever isn’t working on interior runs most of the time needs a change quickly.
So does the play against Cover 2
Bengals coaches had all offseason to counteract the obvious incoming shift to more Cover 2 looks that defenses would throw at them. Some of this is undoubtedly a protection issue up front too, but the play calls and even some of Burrow’s little hesitations against two-deep safety looks have hurt the offense. They must improve play design, calls and taking what defenses give them to really get humming like they were last year.
Tee Higgins' absence is big-time noteworthy
This was a weird one. Higgins has been the offensive component that has made it all click in wins this year. He played through an ankle injury and had a great game against the Dolphins. Then coaches made it seem like he’d be just fine for Sunday night. Turns out he wasn’t, didn’t play much and the passing attack suffered for it.
Zac Taylor
There’s much to chew on here. The obvious one is the decision to call a trick-play (Philly Special, the one even casual fans know by now) in a key moment and have it fail. Then, fail on a fourth down in easy field goal range. Going for it was the right call, but Taylor’s actual play-calls were abysmal. It’s fair to wonder if/when he should cough up play-calling duties, especially given just how much talent he has on offense compared to most teams in the league.
Underperforming
A bevy of factors have combined to create this situation where the Bengals have lost three games at the final gun by a total of just eight points. Much of it falls on an offense that starts slow and is generally erratic. It’s a shame given the stunning wealth of talent at quarterback and around the position. The offense hasn’t had to counteract a high-caliber starting quarterback until Sunday night, largely playing teams they should easily outclass. It’s understandable for fans to sweat the lack of urgency and inability to impose a will on inferior opponents, no matter how appealing the division continues to look.
In-game notes
— First offensive drive for the Bengals stalled, but the team made a concerted effort to get Ja’Marr Chase easy touches right out of the gates. If not a big play, a way to soften up the defense for something bigger over the top later.
— Ravens aggressively attacked the edges of the Bengals defense on the first drive.
— But there? First-round rookie Dax Hill got a very rare snap for his debut season and got a third-down stop.
— Another miserable start for the offense. The running game is a mess that doesn’t work inside and the play-calling has to overcompensate, which it simply can’t.
— The offense came alive almost at random late in the first half, getting good yardage on the ground from shotgun-based runs before Burrow found Hayden Hurst for a major revenge-game touchdown.
— Jonah Williams suffered an injury in the second quarter and walked off but eventually returned.
— Burrow forced a pass that got intercepted in the third quarter but otherwise had the offense humming, especially to Hurst. Ravens committing penalties didn’t hurt, of course.
— Bengals went eight-plus minutes and 73 yards while down three in the second half and scored…zero points. There was a failed trick play, then a shovel pass that failed on a fourth down in a rather stunning display of failed play-calling and execution.
— Zac Taylor and La’el Collins had an…interesting sideline chat after a failed fourth-down attempt.
— Gutsy drive by Burrow in the fourth’s closing moments, capped off by a quarterback sneak that helped the team take the lead.
— Defense was its usual bend-but-don’t-break self on the final drive, but that was enough to let the Ravens into field goal range.
