Cincy Jungle
That was painful.
If you were lucky, you turned off the Cincinnati Bengals game on Sunday—maybe when they were already trailing by 45—and went outside to enjoy what I assume was a nice day.
If you were unlucky, you made the trip from Cincinnati to Minneapolis hoping to watch Jake Browning lead the Bengals to their first 3-0 start in a decade. Instead, you sat through a 48-10 slaughter, watching a group of impostors in striped helmets collapse in real time. I can’t think of a more miserable way to spend a Sunday. If you made that trip, I feel for you, and I hope Vikings fans showed you some mercy.
Me? I couldn’t turn it off. No matter how much I wanted to, it was like watching a train wreck—horrifying, but impossible to look away.
The Bengals turned the ball over five times. No team in the NFL survives a 0-5 turnover margin, especially not one missing two defensive starters and its franchise quarterback. Browning threw two interceptions, and the team put the ball on the ground six times, losing three of them.
The offensive line offered little help. Browning struggled constantly under pressure, and unlike Joe Burrow, he doesn’t have the pocket presence or escapability to turn chaos into opportunities. When he’s forced off-platform, the offense collapses with him.
And the run game? Nonexistent. Chase Brown carried 10 times for three yards. Three. As a team, they averaged 2.5 yards per carry. It’s the same story we’ve seen for years under Zac Taylor: a revolving door of offensive line coaches—Jim Turner, Frank Pollack, Scott Peters—without a consistent ability to run the ball. Since Taylor took over, the best rushing finish the Bengals have had was still bottom-10 in the league, all the way back in 2021.
Obviously, this offense is built around Burrow’s arm, but maybe that’s the problem. Maybe, when Burrow returns, the Bengals need to lean into a more boring, ball-control approach—if only to protect him. Because if what we saw in Minnesota is what this offense is going to look like the rest of the season, they won’t just miss the playoffs. They’ll be picking in the top five come Spring.
In the end, this was just one game. Probably the ugliest Bengals game I’ve ever watched, but still just one. They’re 2-1, and style points don’t count in the standings.
What does matter is what comes next. Now we find out who the 2025 Cincinnati Bengals really are. A team can either crumble after a loss like this, or use it as the spark to adjust and fight back.
The test comes fast—on the road, under the lights of Monday Night Football in Denver. The Broncos are opening as a touchdown favorite, and they’ll be waiting. If the same Bengals team that showed up in Minnesota takes the field again in the Rockies, Denver covering the spread will be the easiest bet of the week.
If the 2025 Cincinnati Bengals have any grit, this...
