The Chicago Bears had the magic run out on Sunday with a bumpy loss to the Baltimore Ravens. How will the team rally against a Cincinnati Bengals team that is certainly beatable without Joe Burrow?
We sat
down with Anthony Cosenza from Cincy Jungle, SB Nation’s Cincinnati Bengals site, to get the Bengals’ perspective on their team and this game. Here’s our conversation.
1. How are fans feeling about the Bengals’ outlook for the season? I know the plan is to hang in there until Joe Burrow returns from injury. Do you think that’s possible, and can this team still make the AFC Playoffs?
Frustrated. After the first offseason without any drama surrounding Joe Burrow–namely, injuries and a long-term contract–he once again saw bad luck in Week 2 with a severe toe injury. After Jake Browning showed some heroics in the final two quarters of that game to get Cincinnati to a 2-0 start, he was abysmal in three starts thereafter.
Then, Joe Flacco came aboard and gave the offense some life, even though he went 1-2 as the starter in relief of Browning. As if things couldn’t snowball any worse against the Bengals, Flacco sustained an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder on the lone hit he sustained in the loss against the Jets on Sunday. It’s a shame, given his 7-0 touchdown-interception ratio in the three games he has started for the Bengals.
The foundation of the frustrations, however, is the Bengals’ defense. In an offseason wherein Cincinnati has emphasized better play on that side of the ball and purged the staff from the 2024 season, it’s arguably worse. Whether it’s in veterans taking steps back, the few free agent acquisitions lacking impact, or rookies looking completely lost, this unit has been the major catalyst in the five losses they’ve sustained.
2. It appears that Joe Flacco is 50-50, and it’ll be Jake Browning if he can’t go. Is this game as simple as the Bengals can win if Joe Flacco plays and they can’t win if it’s Jake Browning? How have the offenses differed with each of them?
Under Flacco, the Bengals have achieved balance, being able to utilize play-action a little more effectively as both Chase Brown and Samaje Perine have been effective runners the past couple of weeks. Flacco has wisely targeted Ja’Marr Chase an insane 54 times the past three weeks, which has borne fruit, and while that seems to breed predictability, it hasn’t led to any turnovers yet.
Under Browning, there was an attempt at a system to bend some of what Burrow likes to do out of shotgun, along with a lot of bootlegs and the like. Unfortunately, any time a run play was called, it became incredibly predictable, and Browning couldn’t create big plays. Aside from that, Browning made poor reads and was late on a lot of throws, leading to stalled drives and interceptions.
3. This Bengals defense certainly seems to be one of the bottom three in the league. Do you expect Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams to score plenty of points this Sunday?
They should, based on recent history dating back to last year. Only two factors could play into this: first, apparently, the Bears’ top-four wideouts are nursing varying injuries. And secondly, Cincinnati’s defense had one of those stereotypical “Players Only Meetings” on Monday after their epic collapse against the Jets. I’m cynical about the efficacy of such meetings, but they sometimes have short-term benefits.
4. What are your thoughts on Zac Taylor? If the Bengals miss the playoffs, is it time for him to lose his job?
Zac Taylor is a great guy and has brought a lot of good to the Bengals. He has built a strong locker room and has prioritized character and leadership in a lot of the players he has brought into the building. He oversaw one of the better stretches in franchise history, but we’re now talking about three years since any semblance of a team making significant playoff noise.
On one hand, anyone who is familiar with the Bengals knows that any head coach plays with a disadvantage that most don’t, given the team’s long-chronicled and often-criticized M.O. The fact that he has gotten the team to a Super Bowl and an AFC Championship appearance in back-to-back seasons is borderline miraculous, given the parameters in which he has to operate. To boot, the insane bad luck with Burrow’s health has to be taken into account.
On the other hand, it’s been said that a team takes on the personality of its head coach, and there are examples of that with Taylor–both good and bad. Cincinnati has been an incredibly slow starter at the onset of seasons and can be incredibly streaky, both in the positive and negative. Feeling some heat after last year, Taylor purged many assistant coaches this offseason, with many pointing at those departures as the reason for back-to-back seasons without a playoff appearance. Now, even with another Burrow injury, the microscope focuses more intently on Taylor this year, should the Bengals miss the playoffs again.
5. How do you think this one plays out on Sunday?
I don’t have much confidence in the Bengals this week, given the avalanche that occurred last Sunday and the Flacco injury. If Flacco is mostly healthy, Cincinnati can keep it interesting, especially with the urgency dialed up and Chicago banged up at wide receiver. Still, multi-dimensional quarterbacks like Caleb Williams will give this ailing defense fits, so I expect him to get his, even without all of his weapons at his disposal.
