Let’s look back at the Cincinnati Bengals embarrassing loss to the New Orleans Saints and observe some notable takeaways from the game.
After a high-scoring victory over Tampa Bay two weeks ago, the Cincinnati Bengals had a bye week to prepare for the NFC-leading New Orleans Saints to come to town.
A week apparently wasn’t anywhere near close enough to bridge the gap between the franchises, however, because New Orleans easily won this game 51-14.
This game was decided early, so the answers for what went wrong (and what we should take away from it) were clear pretty quickly. They begin with…
No Green = Massive Problems
A.J. Green is easily the best player on Cincinnati’s offensive roster — and besides maybe Geno Atkins, nobody on the defense comes close to his impact and ability for the franchise.
It isn’t surprising that the team would struggle without him (4-7-1 including playoffs when he missed games previously), but this was the epitome of needing a player to find success. As we saw when this team played Kansas City (when he was the offensive focus to a detrimental degree), over-reliance can be a problem, but it is nowhere near as much of an issue as not having someone like Green available at all.
In theory, Cincinnati would seem to have enough skill position talent to still have a functional offense — and their first drive in this game seemed to highlight that belief. Joe Mixon picked up 42 total yards (including two 10+ yard runs). Tyler Boyd caught a 23 yard pass. John Ross caught the touchdown.
Backup quarterback Jeff Driskel even got involved at one point, running for a handful of yards. With Giovani Bernard and a bunch of other young receivers in tow as well, it seemed Cincinnati may have enough to keep up.
Not a chance, apparently. While New Orleans kept scoring, Cincinnati wouldn’t do so again until their final drive of the game; in the meantime, they would have four punts, two picks, a turnover on downs, and just run out the clock before halftime.
Though there are some useful talents beyond Green on the roster, the group is mostly unproven and ineffective. Only Boyd, Mixon, and maybe Bernard can be counted on for consistency; the rest can only show up here and there (if ever). None of those players have anywhere near the ceiling nor physical profile of Green (of course not; he’s a superstar, after all), and it really highlights their deficiencies when he isn’t able to line up with them.
The team must find some way to survive on offense when he isn’t in the lineup, and they must do so right now. He’s out for at least another week because of his toe injury, but reports indicate he could be out until December (if so, that’ll tack on another 1-2 games). With the Ravens coming up this weekend (a team which simultaneously has a strong defense, but has been torn apart often by Green in previous matchups), the Bengals better have an alternative plan of action in mind.