The final score indicated a 27-15 victory for the Cincinnati Bengals to kickoff Week 4, but don’t let it fool you. The Bengals are in trouble. Serious trouble.
Now the obvious angle here is to talk about the offensive line, but they have been much improved over these last two games. On Sunday against the Jets, Joe Burrow was sacked twice, and in the contest against the Dolphins, he was only taken down once.
Another angle could be to look at the underwhelming offensive performances they’ve put on tape. Ja’Marr Chase is still awaiting that signature game or consistency in 2022 and Joe Mixon has yet to break through either. No one will mistake the 2022 Bengals for last year’s version anytime soon. The sequel is almost never better than the original.
In some ways, it’s hard to believe most of these current Bengals were playing in the Super Bowl less than a calendar year ago. There is plenty of blame to go around, but look no further than the man who is supposed to be running it all, head coach Zac Taylor.
Taylor had some, to put it nicely, questionable decisions during Thursday Night Football. After failing to pick up a first down on 4th and 1 just a few days ago, Taylor once again opted for a toss play. For the second time this week, it resulted in a turnover on downs.
After it didn’t work on Sunday, he addressed the play-calling and admitted it was a result of overthinking.
On offense, the team seems to be incapable of getting its stars like Chase involved and failed to exploit a pass defense that was ranked near the bottom of the league entering this game. It appears everyone except Taylor and offensive coordinator Brian Callahan understand the Bengals would flourish as a pass-first offense.
After an effective opening drive, it appeared that the Cincinnati offense was finally clicking, but that quickly fizzled out as time went on. They were ineffective, and perhaps the greatest evidence of that was Taylor’s decision to kick a field goal after being stopped at the goal line on consecutive plays. It is inexcusable in today’s NFL to be unable to pick up at least a yard, especially when Miami would’ve taken over backed up deep in their own territory with a backup quarterback.
The field goal only put the Bengals up by two points with 12 minutes left. It worked out in the end, helping Cincinnati improve their record to 2-2 on the season, but despite the result, last night’s game should be all the proof you need to back the Ravens to win the AFC North.
DraftKings is giving us even odds (+100) on this wager, so you’ll double your money if Baltimore can win the division. With Lamar Jackson in MVP form and Taylor’s Bengals putting on yet another disappointing performance, the time to strike is now, before it’s too late.
Basic Tips: Placing a wager on the Ravens to win the division is considered a “futures” bet, meaning the bet will not be paid out or settled as a loss until the season is over or the AFC North is clinched by one of the four teams.