After a big win over the Baltimore Ravens, the Bengals fell back down to earth in what was supposed to be a relatively easy win. While the Bengals did do a lot of things well, it was overshadowed by poor coaching and poor execution in multiple areas.
The Good:
– WR, Tee Higgins
Higgins had arguably his best game of the year. While he didn’t score, like in some of his other games, he won multiple times over the top, including one play that set the Bengals up inside the Jets 5 yard line. Higgins finished the day with 4 receptions for 97 yards.
– RB, Joe Mixon
Mixon was average on the ground, only rushing for 33 yards on 14 carries. He did have a rushing TD, though. His main contribution is this one came through the air. He hauled in 4 passes for 58 yards and another TD. His longest reception went for 46 yards off a pass from Tyler Boyd during a trick play.
– WR, Tyler Boyd
Boyd didn’t light up the stat sheet, but he turned in a good, solid performance. He hauled in some key receptions late in the game to keep drives going, and he caught a late TD from Joe Burrow. On the scoring play, he did well to break off his route and adjust to a scrambling Joe Burrow. Boyd also was involved in a trick play in which he completed a 46 yard pass to Joe Mixon.
– Safeties, Jessie Bates & Vonn Bell
While much of the defence played below expectations, Bates and Bell bounced back from a poor performance, by their standards, against the Ravens. Shots down the field were kept to a minimum and they each contributed to forcing a turnover. Bates intercepted Mike White and returned it to the yard line. Bell followed with a forced fumble.
– LB, Germaine Pratt
The front 7 had a day to forget, but Pratt was solid. He made some nice tackles in open space and snagged himself an interception off a deflected pass.
The Bad:
– DC, Lou Anarumo
The execution by the players was not great on Sunday but, plain and simple, Anarumo set his team up to fail. It is anybody’s guess as to what he was thinking when his response to playing a dink and dunk QB (making his first career start, mind you) was to sit in soft zone for the whole game. The Jets called screen after screen and dump off after dump off, with the receiver usually having plenty of green grass in front of him. At this level, it is simply unacceptable to call a game as poorly as he did. Further, there wasn’t a lot of rotation on the Bengals defence, and the Jets took advantage of tired legs.
– LB, Logan Wilson
Wilson had been having a great season thus far, but found himself on the other end in week 8. The Bengals defence had a total of 15 missed tackles, and Wilson headlined that with 3 of them being credited to his name. Further, he did not have a good day in coverage.
– OT, Riley Reiff
The veteran addition has been rather consistent in his first year with the team, but week 8 was probably his worst performance as a Bengal. He allowed a couple of sacks, including one on a key 3rd down in the 4th quarter.
– iOL, Trey Hill
Hill had to enter the game for an injured Jackson Carman, but unfortunately, he just didn’t look ready. He took a penalty or two not long after he entered the game, and did not have a good day in pass protection.
– Redzone playcalling
The offence had a fine day overall, but they seemed to forget how to play once they entered the redzone. The playcalling, specifically, was bad. Early in the game, Jessie Bates set them up with 1st & goal from the 1, following his interception. The Bengals led off with two draw plays to Mixon, both of which were stuffed. I’ve never been a big fan of shotgun handoffs at the goalline. While Chase did drop a TD on 3rd down, the play calling was just too vanilla. This was further demonstrated in the 4th quarter when, in another goal to go situation, they had to settle for a field goal. The 4 points they missed out on for that drive proved to be costly, as the Bengals lost by only 3 points.