The Bengals have been rolling as of late, piling on wins after a slow start to the season. Unfortunately, their streak came to an end on Sunday, losing late to the Houston Texans. We saw bright spots on both sides of the ball, especially on offence, where they really came alive in the 2nd half. However, mistakes, inconsistencies, and sloppy play on both sides proved to be costly.
The Good:
– WR, Ja’Marr Chase
Chase came into the game dealing with a back issue that he picked up against the Bills. As a result, he was on a bit of a snap count. However, as the offence continued to struggle through the middle portions of the game, Chase saw more playing time, and really made an impact, even if he didn’t draw the most targets. His biggest play came on a 64 yard TD catch from a scrambling Joe Burrow. Including that one, he totaled 5 catches in the game, and made the most of them, racking up 124 yards.
– WR, Trenton Irwin
Irwin was filling in for the injured Tee Higgins in this one. He only made 2 catches, but both were impactful. He totaled 54 yards and a TD on just those 2 catches, and he was open down the field on multiple other occasions, where Burrow decided to look in another direction.
– TE, Tanner Hudson
After a solid performance in week 9, Hudson was again involved in week 10. His 5 catches on the opening drive were a big part of what turned out to be a TD drive. His catch to convert a 4th down was especially critical. He totaled 6 catches on the day, for 33 yards.
– Turnovers on Defence
The defence has become known for their turnovers, and they were able to create a couple more on Sunday. The first one came on a botched snap on 4th down. DJ Reader quickly pounced on it before Stroud could get it back. Later, with the Bengals hopes of coming back in doubt, Cam Taylor-Britt came up with a clutch interception that set the offence up inside the Houston 5, leading to a TD.
– CB, DJ Turner
It wasn’t a good day for the defence, but Turner was pretty solid when he saw the field. He didn’t allow much in coverage, and had a key pass breakup late in the game to get off the field on 3rd down.
– P, Brad Robbins
Robbins was called on often, and performed well. Distance had been somewhat of an issue earlier in the year, but he averaged 51.8 yards per punt on 5 attempts. As well, his hang time limited return opportunities, and he was able to pin them inside the 20 on two occasions.
The Bad:
– The Secondary
Outside of a couple of individual plays, like Taylor-Britt’s interception, the secondary was abysmal on Sunday. Taylor-Britt himself didn’t have his best game, outside of the pick. As well, even Awuzie and the safeties were out of position often. I can’t recall a time where I have seen so many receivers create a seemingly endless amount of separation deep down the field on just about every 3rd down or critical play. Execution needs to be better, and Lou Anarumo needs to adjust better as well when things are going this poorly.
– The Pass Rush
Missing Sam Hubbard, the pass rush was nonexistent. Hendrickson had his hands full with Tunsil, and nobody else, interior or edge, was able to set up. On Thursday night against the Ravens, it is possible that both Hubbard and Hendrickson miss. The Bengals will need Myles Murphy, Joseph Ossai, Cam Sample, and all of the interior players to show a lot more than they did on Sunday against the Texans.
– S, Nick Scott & LB, Germaine Pratt
Neither player had a particularly good game, with Scott especially struggling at times. Their poor play was highlighted when neither one was able to bring down Noah Brown, allowing him to pick up significant yardage after the catch, and set up Matt Ammendola with a much easier field goal attempt.
– QB, Joe Burrow
Burrow put up some big numbers, but after the first drive TD, the offence struggled to move the ball at all. All around execution wasn’t good, but a lot of this falls on Burrow’s shoulders as well, as he was passing on some open targets down the field to instead take the check down. It wasn’t until the team fell down by two scores when the offence did finally wake up again. However, even in this stretch, Burrow’s play was costly. On two straight drives, with the Bengals advancing in Houston territory, he threw a brutal pick. The first one was just a bad throw on a pass that was intended for Sample. The second was a brutal decision, where he threw it into traffic while rolling out to his right. It is uncharacteristic for Burrow, and he will need to keep those kinds of plays as far away from his game as possible.
– The Offensive Line
Outside of Ted Karras, I didn’t think any of the offensive linemen particularly stood out. Brown and Williams were half decent on the bookends, but also left some to be desired at times. Similarly, Volson didn’t have his worst game, but wasn’t great either. Cappa, meanwhile, seemed to struggle quite a bit, in what has now become a thing of the last few weeks. The play as a unit will need to improve, especially with a tough matchup against the Ravens coming up.
– WR, Tyler Boyd
Boyd actually had a good day statistically; 8 catches for 117 yards. However, he had two critical drops in this one, something that we just can’t have. His drop on the Bengals last drive was especially costly, as he had what might have been the game winning TD in his hands. However, because he dropped it, they had to settle for a field goal. This allowed the Texans to then go down and kick a field goal, as they did not need to find the endzone.
Modified Homescreen Image Via: All-Pro Reels (CC)