Cincy Jungle
The Cincinnati Bengals went on the road and won an ugly game against the Browns to start their season with a 1-0 record. Now they host the Jaguars on their home opener with a chance to go 2-0 before the schedule tightens up.
The Jaguars have a narrow 13-12 edge in their history with the Bengals, but Cincinnati has won the last three matchups, including an overtime thriller in 2023.
Here are some of the matchups that could help decide whether the Bengals even their record against the Jaguars or fall two games back.
These two quarterbacks, who were No. 1 overall picks in back-to-back years, are forever linked by the NCAA Football National Championship in January of 2020, when Burrow’s LSU Tigers defeated Lawrence’s Tigers by a score of 42-25. Burrow was selected with the No.1 overall pick a short time later.
Burrow and the offense have an early-season issue that makes them sluggish. They played the starting offense more this preseason than they have in all the others in the Zac-Taylor era combined, and they still came out slow against the Browns.
Burrow has never lost to Lawrence. He beat him in the National Championship game in college and he’s defeated him in the two games they faced each other in the NFL. To keep the win streak going, Burrow and the offense needs to be better in Week 2.
Armstead bounced all over the line for the Jaguars last week, but he was most disruptive when rushing from the inside. Risner stepped in like a true pro when Lucas Patrick went down with a calf injury shortly after the game started, and he played well. If the Bengals’ offensive line has a weakness right now, it is at guard, despite the additions made, just because Risner and rookie Dylan Fairchild are both playing in their second games in Bengals’ uniforms.
Expect the Jaguars to overwhelm either guard to prevent Burrow from stepping up into the pocket. If they can do that, they’ll have their best chance of disrupting the Bengals’ powerful passing attack.
Stewart didn’t come up with any sacks for the stat sheet in his NFL debut, but he did have the second-highest pass-rush win rate of rookies in Week 1. I expect him to get more playing time in Week 2 than he did against the Browns, possibly evening up the snaps between him and Joseph Ossai.
Harrison is a former first-round pick from the 2023 NFL Draft, and he was perfect in Week 1 against the Panthers, not allowing a single pressure, per PFF. In fact, Lawrence wasn’t sacked a single time against the Panthers.
If Shemar Stewart can work on finishing, and if he and Trey Hendrickson form a solid duo, watch out.
Do you know who else played in that 2020 National Championship game? Travis Etienne did,...
