Cincy Jungle
The Cincinnati Bengals are coming off the worst loss in recent memory after allowing the winless New York Jets to come to town and leave with their first win of the season.
The Bengals offense posted 38 points, which should be more than enough, but football is a team sport, and the Bengals defense gave up a Jets season-best 39 points.
Cincinnati has lost dozens of games it shouldn’t have over the past decade, but this loss simply feels different in many ways.
The Bengals’ defense allowed Justin Fields and the Jets offense to post over 500 total yards of offense, by far the most of the season for that unit, and it is not even close.
Fields had just been benched for Tyrod Taylor less than a week before Sunday and dragged by the owner of the New York Jets in the media, and yet here we are.
The Zac Taylor-led Bengals have become the ‘get-right’ game for struggling teams, and it is costing the franchise valuable years in the Joe Burrow era.
As much as this defense has struggled, this game really showed me how behind and concerning this unit truly is.
This loss in particular truly showed all the die-hard Bengals fans how much this franchise has failed, from top to bottom, in building a team around Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins.
There should be some serious accountability taken by Duke Tobin, Zac Taylor, and many more, yet Taylor says the issue is that there is no one stepping up on the defense to make big plays and lead the unit.
This is a unit that is unable to tackle or even simply attempt the right angles for a tackle in general.
Unfortunately, outside of Trey Hendrickson, there truly isn’t anyone on this roster who is good enough to make those plays, and that showed on Sunday.
The Bengals have given no long-term security to the best player on this defense in Hendrickson, and one of the captains, Logan Wilson, has been benched for a rookie and has requested a trade.
Again, this is a systematic failure by the entire franchise.
“General Manager” Duke Tobin has held his position for over 20 years and is unable to properly draft, which is job number one.
For example, in the Burrow era, the Bengals have spent two first round picks in the past three years on defensive ends Myles Murphy and Shemar Stewart.
The Jets have one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL and have been unable to keep Fields protected all season, until Sunday.
Both Murphy and Stewart combined for ZERO pressures and made no plays in all four quarters combined.
Tobin and his staff have made it clear they do not know how to draft productive talent, and it is becoming more obvious than ever before.
It is easy to select guys like Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins, but outside of that, it has been nearly a disaster since 2020.
With how...
