Once again, the Cincinnati Bengals are off to a slow start. Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns was far from pretty as they virtually couldn’t get anything going offensively. QB Joe Burrow had arguably the worst game of his career passing for a career low 82 yards and 0 td’s on 14/31 passes completed. Star receiver Ja’Marr Chase was held to just 5 catches for 39 yards while his counterpart Tee Higgins was completely erased off the scoreboard with 0 catches. While the 24-3 scoreboard may not suggest it, the Bengals had some life on defense, mostly in the pass game. Browns QB Deshaun Watson only threw for 154 yards and 1 td on 16/29 passes completed, while being sacked 3 times and throwing an int. The Bengals always have a hard time playing against Cleveland as they are now 1-5 in the Joe Burrow era.
Now let’s take a look at the Bengals next opponent, the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens won their week 1 game against the Houston Texans by a score of 25-9 but did not look too pleasing. QB Lamar Jackson was held to just 169 passing yards with 0 td’s and an int. Baltimore’s offensive success came through their rushing attack with J.K. Dobbins running for a td and Justice Hill running for 2 td’s, but only 9 yards on 8 carries. Ravens RB1 J.K. Dobbins, who has a big history of injuries, tore his Achilles during the game and is out for the season. The Ravens defense looked stellar racking up 5 sacks for a total loss of 46 yards and 10 QB hits.
The Baltimore defense beefed up since the last time these two played but the odds of shutting down that Bengals offense two weeks in a row are very low. QB Joe Burrow was recently given a 5-year $275 million contract becoming the highest paid player in NFL history and will have pressure to play like he’s worth it all season. Higgins also has major pressure to play well this year as his contract is expiring and the two sides will not discuss an extension until after the season is over. Ja’Marr Chase on the other hand averages 115.5 yards a game when playing against Baltimore in just 4 starts so look for him to go off!
Written by: Christian Jenkins
Cover Image via Marca.com