The Bengals were looking to bounce back after suffering a loss to the Jets in week 8. Unfortunately, the bad got worse in week 9. The Browns walked into Cincinnati and stomped on the Bengals. While they did suffer an embarrassing loss, there are some good things to take away from this game. That being said, there is obviously plenty that can be improved upon.
The Good:
– RB, Joe Mixon
On a day where the offence made a lot of mistakes, Mixon was the consistent bright spot. He was running hard, forcing missed tackles and picking up chunk gains. Mixon averaged 4.9 yards per carry and scored 2 TD’s on the ground. He also contributed 46 yards on 5 catches in the passing game.
– LB, Germaine Pratt
The defence largely underwhelmed as a whole, but Germaine Pratt was one of the guys who was able to consistently win his battles. He did a good job of setting the edge and was able to secure his tackles. Especially considering the quality of the opposition, he had a very good game.
– DE, Sam Hubbard
I debated including Hubbard in this category. On one hand, he was quite underwhelming against the run. But on the other hand, he had an excellent day rushing the passer. Deciding to ignore the bad in this instance, this might have been one of Hubbard’s better games, strictly from a pass rushing perspective. Facing a tough Browns OL, he was a nuisance for Baker Mayfield, and was even able to sack him on one occasion.
The Bad:
– LB, Logan Wilson
Wilson has been having a great season, but has not played to the same level these past two weeks. At times, he looked lost in coverage, allowing completions over the middle. Additionally, his play against the run was not up to par.
– DT, Larry Ogunjobi
Ogunjobi had his work cut out for him. Unfortunately, a strong Browns OL was largely able to wash him out. Making matters worse, when he did win his battle, there were times where he could not finish off the play. A prime example of this is his missed tackle that led to Nick Chubb’s 70 yard TD run.
– DE, Trey Hendrickson
Hendrickson was solid rushing the passer, but had a day to forget when facing the run. It was often that his opponent was able to plough him out of the way, creating big lanes for the RB. Going forward, Hendrickson will need to do a better job of setting the edge. As well, he will need to clean up some issues with missed tackles.
– WR, Ja’Marr Chase
By no means should anyone be panicking, but this was easily Chase’s worst game as a pro. He committed a costly fumble that led to a Browns field goal. As well, he dropped a pass that very well could have ended up being another long bomb TD, had he caught it.
– QB, Joe Burrow
Burrow had his bright spots, but mistakes will be the big takeaway from his performance in week 9. It started when his pass to the goalline was intercepted and returned 99 yards by Denzel Ward for a TD. Burrow stared down Ja’Marr Chase on the play, and his ball placement wasn’t great either. Chase was running an out route, but at one point, faked inside. Perhaps a pump fake from Burrow at that point would have been enough to get Ward to bite.
Aside from that one play, there were a lot of forced passes on Burrow’s end, some of which were into traffic and ended up getting tipped into the air. This was the case on his second interception of the game.
– CB, Eli Apple
Apple had given up some big plays over the first few games, but has recently gone through a stretch of better play. On Sunday, however, he gave up yet another big one. He was in single coverage against Donovan Peoples-Jones, who was able to get behind him for a 60 yard TD. Now, to be fair, he probably should have had help over the top from Vonn Bell. But regardless, you don’t want to see your CB’s beaten that badly in coverage.
Apple also contributed negatively in the form of a missed tackle or two. Missed tackles has been a theme of this defence over the last two weeks.
– OL, Hakeem Adeniji
Adeniji saw his first action after being activated off IR. While he has primarily been a tackle thus far into his short career, he got the start at RG against the Browns.
He, unfortunately, did not have a great game, and was responsible for his fair share of pressure getting to Joe Burrow. If you’re looking to cut him some slack, you could argue that he was put in a difficult situation. The team became one dimensional as they fell farther behind, making it easier for the DL and harder on the OL. As well, you figure that he was shaking off some rust.
All that being said, with it looking like he will start again when they come out of the bye week, you’d hope he can show significant improvement.
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