Cincy Jungle
I woke up Monday morning with the scene at the end of “Avengers: Endgame” stuck in my head.
Young Gamora: Did you do it?
Thanos: Yes.
Young Gamora: What did it cost?
Thanos: Everything.
This isn’t a knock on Jake Browning. I don’t think the Bengals should panic by going after a new starting quarterback. There’s no need to give up draft capital for Kirk Cousins or try to find someone who can compete with Browning for snaps. The starting quarterback of the Bengals is, and should remain, Jake Browning until such time that Joe Burrow is healthy and capable of stepping back onto the field. He’s going to give them their best chance to win moving forward. They’ll need to sign his backup, but that’s it.
Considering they’re 2-0, Browning is capable enough, with the weapons surrounding him, to keep the Bengals at least in the wildcard hunt. He can’t make all the throws Burrow can, and he can’t evade pressure and create with his feet like Joe, but we all saw him connect with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, and he was able to get the job done.
In other words, it’s not going to be pretty, but the Bengals can still win football games with Browning.
That doesn’t mean anyone should be okay, or even a little bit okay, with the fact that Burrow is hurt.
Again.
Because the Bengals failed to protect him from being the most hit quarterback in the league.
Again.
They went out and brought in Orlando Brown Jr. in a great move. They used a first-round pick on Amarius Mims, and there’s potential there. They brought Ted Karras to Cincinnati, and he’s been a great addition.
Then there’s guard.
This year, the Bengals decided to fix the weakest position on the line by selecting a guard in the third round (Dylan Fairchild) and then going down the clearance aisle in the last K-Mart around, where they found Lucas Patrick, and, eventually, Dalton Risner.
Were either of them bad signings? No, either would have been fine if they were for depth instead of considered for the starting role. There were a lot of fans of the Risner signing last week, and I was one of them, but it’s also kind of curious as to why he was available 20 minutes before opening day.
Are these guys the only guards whose job it is to protect Burrow, their most valuable player and asset? No. They could have done more, but they didn’t.
Yes, they extended Chase, Higgins, and even got a deal done with Trey Hendrickson right before the clock struck midnight. And that’s it. They didn’t bring in a starting guard. They didn’t bring in help for the secondary (and it’s very clear that help is needed badly). They didn’t do everything they could to check every box, and in doing so, their best player is furthering his drive down the Andrew Luck Expressway.
Does bad luck exist? Sure, and the Bengals have...
