Hello, John Newton.

The Cincinnati Bengals took another brutal loss, this one to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football.

The biggest rookie takeaway by far in this game was that Josh Newton stepped up when he finally got a chance to play a significant role. The fifth-round pick out of TCU has been lavished with praise from the coaching staff but has only seen occasional action.

With Cam Taylor-Britt’s struggles and DJ Turner’s injury, Newton played 51 snaps and looks to be firmly planted in a starting role for the foreseeable future. Newton had a frivolous penalty called...

Some telling snap counts.

There were no snap limitations for Tee Higgins after a multi-week absence. The veteran wideout took 69 snaps and led the Cincinnati Bengals in receptions (nine) and receiving yards (148) in his return to the lineup, which nearly was enough to spark a comeback win that fell short vs. the Los Angeles Chargers.

Ja’Marr Chase took 81 of the unit’s 82 snaps. Andrei Iosivas played 56 snaps, and rookie Jermaine Burton played 18. Trent Irwin added four snaps. We knew that Higgins would step back into his role as WR1a, but it is disappointing to see...

The Bengals come up short in LA, franchise great Eric Thomas discusses the season, and more!

The Cincinnati Bengals had a rough end result out west, losing in another devastating, last-minute fashion to continue the 2024 trend. The Bengals fell to 4-7 and there are far more questions than answers.

Stopping by the TFWBJAF crew was Bengals legendary cornerback, Eric Thomas. The Super Bowl corner and former Pro Bowler had some hot takes for the gang, as he assessed his former team’s disappointing season.

This week:

-Eric Thomas talks about Zac Taylor giving up play-calling duties.

-Thomas assesses the defense’s...

Will he get in this time? We all know he deserves to.

The Cincinnati Bengals only have two former players enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, left tackle Anthony Muñoz and safety Ken Riley.

They could be joined by a third soon.

On Wednesday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced their 25 finalists for the class of 2025, and former Bengals right tackle Willie Anderson has once again made the list.

Anderson was one of the greatest right tackles in the modern era of football. The only reason he isn’t in the Hall of Fame already is...

The Bengals’ season is on life support after a valiant comeback in Los Angeles came up short, as Cincinnati fell to 4-7.

The Cincinnati Bengals’ 2024 season is in its final breaths. The Sunday Night Football loss to the Chargers was a big blow to their playoff chances, as the team tries to regroup on the bye week.

On this week’s “Aftermath” episode, John and Anthony broke down a number of facets to the most recent heartbreak.

• Why did the team settle for four field goal attempts?
• What’s going on with Evan McPherson?
• What immediate changes need...

The head coach is ready to move forward.

Following the disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, Ja’Marr Chase was asked about the problem the Cincinnati Bengals have finishing games. And he implied that the issue is related to coaching.

“I play football on the field,” the receiver said, “I don’t call plays for us.”

Then, in his Tuesday news conference, head coach Zac Taylor called Chase “emotional” but also “one of the most genuine players” he’s been around. Taylor then said:

“I don’t have problems with guys that work as hard as they do, speaking with emotion after the...

Higgins’ final season with the Bengals has been mostly heartbreak.

Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals offense did about everything they could do in the second half of Sunday night’s Week 11 game against the Chargers. Burrow threw three second-half touchdowns, two to Ja’Marr Chase and one to Tee Higgins, to tie the game at 27, only for it to be undone by another Evan McPherson missed field goal and subsequent defensive collapse.

Was the offense perfect? No, but the defense is so bad, the only way the offense can beat a good team, and the Chargers are a good...

Palmer effectively quit on the Bengals for being an unserious franchise. Was he right?

Greetings, Bengals fans!

There’s no sugarcoating it at this point. This season has been an abject failure in Cincinnati, as it seems like all of the holes in this franchise have come back to haunt this team after one of the most successful stretches it’s ever seen.

Whether it’s the Bengals being cheap with free agents, not re-signing their best players, staying too committed to coaches clearly in over their head, or epically failing in the draft (when they don’t have top-five picks), we’re seeing a...

Wilson bolsters the Bengals’ depleted cornerback room.

The Cincinnati Bengals have acquired cornerback Marco Wilson on waivers from the New England Patriots, the team announced Tuesday. Wilson was waived by New England on Monday.

In a corresponding move, the team placed cornerback DJ Turner II on the injured reserve list. A second-year player out of Michigan, Turner suffered a collarbone injury in Sunday night’s game vs. the Los Angeles Chargers.

Wilson, weighing in at 5-foot-11 and 191 pounds, is a fourth-year player out of Florida. He was originally a fourth-round NFL Draft pick of the Arizona Cardinals in 2021. He...

The bye is here, and the Bengals are in free-fall mode.

The Cincinnati Bengals have hung in almost every game and have problem that they can play with some of the best teams in the NFL, barely losing to the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens.

In their Week 11 primetime Sunday Night Football battle, they drew the Los Angeles Chargers and lost 34-27 after digging themselves a 24-6 halftime hole. The Bengals defense has been horrible to say the least, and now they will get to regroup on a bye week and look towards the Steelers at home for...

The Bengals are struggling with the little things in the clutch.

A lot went wrong for the Cincinnati Bengals (4-7) as they fell behind the Los Angeles Chargers (7-3) by a score of 24-6.

But then they started storming back to tie the game at 27 and almost pulled ahead. Unfortunately, they came up empty despite a fresh set of downs with 1:12 left.

Tony Pike thinks that time mismanagement was a big reason the Bengals ended up punting to the Chargers on the drive. Los Angeles, of course, would then go down the field to score the go-ahead touchdown....

The Bengals need to start thinking with their brains and not their hearts, or whatever organ they use to make decisions.

I’m going to be as realistic as I can.

The Cincinnati Bengals aren’t going to go to the playoffs. It’s not happening. They have found new and creative ways of shooting themselves in the foot this year. Evan McPherson is suddenly not accurate from 40 yards or more. The defense couldn’t tackle in Week 1, and they still can’t tackle in Week 11. They can’t pressure the passer unless Trey Hendrickson does it. The offensive line, made almost exclusively...