Coming off a big game on Monday Night Football against the Rams, where the Bengals gutted out their first win of the season, an opportunity was there to get back to even on the year. However, much of the gutsiness that was on display on Monday was not there on Sunday. But much of the problems, especially offensively were. It ended up being a very lifeless, forgettable performance for the Bengals, with few positives and many negatives to take away from it.
The Good:
P, Brad Robbins
After a rocky start to his career, Brad Robbins finally performed like you would expect the punter you drafted to. While he has never been known to have a booming leg, Robbins did boom multiple punts, in a game where he was afforded several opportunities. He did have one of his punts result in a touchback, but distance has generally been the concern, and against the Titans, he showed that he is at least capable of changing that.
DE, Myles Murphy
The 1st round rookie has played sparingly as a rotational rusher thus far. He looked a bit raw in the preseason, but Murphy has been showing some flashes. On Sunday, he took advantage of an opportunity, as he got to the QB and finished the play off with a sack.
DL Pressure
While the defence as a whole didn’t play well, pressure wasn’t the issue. Hendrickson and Hubbard both able to get to the QB around the edge. Meanwhile, BJ Hill was able to create a decent amount of penetration from the inside for a second straight week.
WR, Ja’Marr Chase
It was a painfully slow day for the offence. Even through the struggles, Chase managed to produce a nice statline, reeling in 7 receptions for 73 yards.
The Bad:
QB, Joe Burrow
It was a rough one for Burrow. The calf injury is clearly still impacting his ability to make an impact. His dismal 5.5 yards per attempt is one indicator, but his unwillingness to even attempt to extend a play is an even bigger one. It is clear at this point that Burrow can’t be much more than a statue in the pocket. The hope is certainly that his health improves as the season goes on, but sustained success is hard to forecast, should his mobility remain this limited.
The Offence
I singled out Burrow up above, but most of the offence, outside of maybe Chase and Mixon, did not perform well. Higgins had another disappointing performance, and Boyd also missed a couple of opportunities that you would normally expect him to take advantage of. As a whole, execution was lacking for most of the game.
Zac Taylor
While execution was lacking, Zac Taylor does not escape without blame. His dinking and dunking gameplan in week 3 caused a lot of issues, but they were lucky to come away with a win. This week, the Titans stacked the box and took away all the underneath stuff. No adjustments were made, and thus, the offence struggled throughout. While Burrow’s injury is certainly behind the conservative play calling, there comes a point where you have to ask more of him, or sit him to allow the calf to heal.
The Offensive Line
Rounding out the concerns on offence, the offensive line did nobody any favours. They failed to neutralize a Titans defence that blitzed quite often. And even when falling a four man rush, pressure still got to Burrow. The interior, with an emphasis on Volson, continues to have more low points than you would like to see, though the entire unit needs to play better than they did on Sunday.
The Defence
The defence put pressure on the QB, but struggled outside of that aspect. Part of the blame falls on the shoulders of the offence, as their inability to sustain a drive likely contributed to the defensive woes. Still, the matter in which the Titans offence was able to rip off chunk plays and control the game clock was very concerning. The secondary looked lost at times, allowing wide open receptions over the middle. The run defence, meanwhile, was nonexistent, allowing a whopping 162 yards on just 27 combined carries between Henry and Spears.