Windy City Gridiron
The Chicago Bears had the magic run out on Sunday with a bumpy loss to the Baltimore Ravens. How will the team rally against a Cincinnati Bengals team that is certainly beatable without Joe Burrow?
We sat down with Anthony Cosenza from Cincy Jungle, SB Nation’s Cincinnati Bengals site, to get the Bengals’ perspective on their team and this game. Here’s our conversation.
1. How are fans feeling about the Bengals’ outlook for the season? I know the plan is to hang in there until Joe Burrow returns from injury. Do you think that’s possible, and can this team still make the AFC Playoffs?
Frustrated. After the first offseason without any drama surrounding Joe Burrow–namely, injuries and a long-term contract–he once again saw bad luck in Week 2 with a severe toe injury. After Jake Browning showed some heroics in the final two quarters of that game to get Cincinnati to a 2-0 start, he was abysmal in three starts thereafter.
Then, Joe Flacco came aboard and gave the offense some life, even though he went 1-2 as the starter in relief of Browning. As if things couldn’t snowball any worse against the Bengals, Flacco sustained an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder on the lone hit he sustained in the loss against the Jets on Sunday. It’s a shame, given his 7-0 touchdown-interception ratio in the three games he has started for the Bengals.
The foundation of the frustrations, however, is the Bengals’ defense. In an offseason wherein Cincinnati has emphasized better play on that side of the ball and purged the staff from the 2024 season, it’s arguably worse. Whether it’s in veterans taking steps back, the few free agent acquisitions lacking impact, or rookies looking completely lost, this unit has been the major catalyst in the five losses they’ve sustained.
2. It appears that Joe Flacco is 50-50, and it’ll be Jake Browning if he can’t go. Is this game as simple as the Bengals can win if Joe Flacco plays and they can’t win if it’s Jake Browning? How have the offenses differed with each of them?
Under Flacco, the Bengals have achieved balance, being able to utilize play-action a little more effectively as both Chase Brown and Samaje Perine have been effective runners the past couple of weeks. Flacco has wisely targeted Ja’Marr Chase an insane 54 times the past three weeks, which has borne fruit, and while that seems to breed predictability, it hasn’t led to any turnovers yet.
Under Browning, there was an attempt at a system to bend some of what Burrow likes to do out of shotgun, along with a lot of bootlegs and the like. Unfortunately, any time a run play was called, it became incredibly predictable, and Browning couldn’t create big plays. Aside from that, Browning made poor reads and was late on a lot of throws, leading to stalled drives and interceptions.
**3. This Bengals defense certainly seems to be one of the bottom three in...
