The Bengals entered week 4 in what was practically a must win scenario. Falling to 0-4 would have likely been the nail in their coffin in regards to their playoff hopes. Cincy came out with the win over what looked like a rejuvenated Panthers team. Parts of this win looked really good, but a lot of the sloppiness from past weeks still was evident.
The Good:
WR, Tee Higgins
Higgins was in his second game back from injury, and looked the part. He was targeted early and often, parlaying those targets into 6 receptions for 60 yards. Higgins was targeted on some key 3rd downs, and was able to move the chains, helping the offence to outlast that of the Panthers.
WR, Ja’Marr Chase
Chase wasn’t used as often as Higgins in this one, but he took advantage when he was used. He turned just 3 receptions into 85 yards, with his highlight being a 63 yard catch and run for a TD. On that play, Chase bounced off a couple of tackles, and outran the rest of the defence down the sideline, en route to the end zone.
RB’s, Zack Moss & Chase Brown
For a second straight week, the running game looked solid. Moss picked up some heavy yards up the middle, and added 27 yards and a TD in the passing game. Brown looked very explosive, and was on the verge of popping some big runs. He scored 2 TD’s near the goal line and added 12 yards through the air.
The Offensive Line
With the success of the run game, the offensive line also deserves some credit. There were some nice lanes opened up, allowing the Bengals to have a pretty balanced attack. As well, Amarius Mims made his first career start at RT, and was solid in this one. The overall depth took a hit when Trent Brown got hurt, but Mims as a starter looks just fine filling in.
DT, Kris Jenkins
The defensive line had a lot of issues, but the flashes shown by Jenkins in limited snaps were encouraging. There were flashes as a pass rusher, and some as a run defender, as well. His highlight was a run stuff on 4th & goal that prevented an opening drive TD for the Panthers.
S, Vonn Bell
Bell had a rough game in week 3 against the Commanders, but improved against his former team, the Panthers. I wouldn’t say it was a standout performance as a whole, but the improvement week over week is worth mentioning. As well, his interception off a tipped Dalton pass was a turning point in the game. Shout out also to Trey Hendrickson, who forced the deflection.
K, Evan McPherson
McPherson, after some misses in the last couple of games, had a perfect outing on Sunday. He went 2/2 on field goals, with a long of 56, and 4/4 on extra points.
The Bad:
CB, Cam Taylor-Britt
Outside of some outlier plays, Taylor-Britt has generally been a good shutdown CB since becoming the team’s starter a season ago. But in week 4, he was the guy getting picked on. He was targeted often, and gave up several big plays. On one play, he did have a nice interception, but it was negated by a penalty that he took. Overall, not a good day for Taylor-Britt, and he will look to bounce back against the Ravens.
DT, Zach Carter:
Carter again got an extended run, and again looked overmatched at the line of scrimmage. Carter failed to make much of an impact as a pass rusher, and was a big part of their problems defending the run.
DT, Lawrence Guy:
Guy was brought in recently as a free agent, and in limited snaps, was solid in week 3. In week 4, he didn’t have the same kind of impact. With the Bengals needing help against the run, he unfortunately was not able to stop the bleeding.
Run Defence:
The two players I mentioned above were big parts of the issues defending the run, but the unit as a whole was not good. Although a lot of battles were lost in the trenches, missed tackles from other members also played a role. Daxton Hill was good in coverage, but had another missed tackle. Germaine Pratt missed three of them, and there were others as well. The tackling has to improve from this defensive unit.
