Three Down Look: Browns Bury Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium

Baker Mayfield moved to 6-1 all-time against Cincinnati.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Publish date:
Nov 7, 2021 6:54 PM EST

Disaster in The Jungle.

The Cincinnati Bengals had a chance to stay near the top of the AFC North, but never looked ready to play in Sunday's 41-16 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

Joe Burrow was a shell of himself and continues to turn the ball over far too often. The defense missed plenty of tackles, which was an issue that plagued them against New York, and the Browns elite rushing attack destroyed the effort.

The Bengals are still a game over .500, but have a ton of questions to answer if they want to crack the seven-team AFC playoff field.

Here's the Three Down Look at Cincinnati's worst loss since the 2020 season finale.

First Down: Burrow Opening A Bakery

Analysts lauded Burrow for his decision making and accuracy while at LSU, and that shine is rusting after another multi-turnover game in his sophomore campaign.

Burrow drives the wins and losses for this team, and turnovers are killing the former. He tossed two more interceptions on Sunday to give him a league-leading 11 on the year. He also fumbled a snap that Joe Mixon recovered.

The franchise quarterback was among the top three signal-callers in interception rate last season, but that consistency is fading away. Burrow is throwing plenty of touchdowns, but the turnovers have been too much for this team overcome the past few weeks.

The goal-line interception that Denzel Ward housed for six points started the avalanche. It marked Burrow's fifth-straight game with an interception.

Joe Flacco's rough stretch in 2016 is the only other time in the past decade that an NFL quarterback threw interceptions in five straight games. Jon Kitna is the only other Bengals quarterback to own the dubious feat this century.

Burrow is turning the ball over too much for this team to win and it needs to stop for them to turn things around after the bye week.

Second Down: No Fix For Broken Defense

The Bengals let Mike White tear them up last week, and Nick Chubb took that annihilation to the ground this time around. The Browns didn't have to feed their workhorse back because he was so efficient. Chubb toted the ball 14 times for 137 yards and two touchdowns.

The bruiser busted the game open in the third quarter on a 70-yard touchdown run that encapsulated the Bengals' effort over the past two weeks. Cincinnati couldn't shake the missed-tackle bug for the second week in a row, and it showed on most of Chubb's carries.

The Browns scored 41 points on 46 plays, they went 1-of-6 on third down, but it didn't matter because they played Canadian football all afternoon. Baker Mayfield moved to 6-1 all-time against Cincinnati in an efficient performance Bengals fans are accustomed to.

The Browns are better without Odell Beckham Jr., and Mayfield continued providing evidence why through his deep chemistry with Donovan Peoples-Jones. The Browns had zero turnovers, and Mayfield averaged nine yards per attempt.

All in all, Mayfield finished with 0.52 EPA/play. That figure ranks in the 94th percentile of Ben Baldwin's database and culminated a two-week stretch where not much has gone right for the Orange and Black. The Bengals loss to the Browns marked the largest game deficit in this rivalry since 1987.

The Browns were a wounded, hungry animal that sniffed out blood on the banks of the Ohio River.

Third Down: Tyler Boyd MIA

The Bengals offense is entirely too reliant on explosive plays, and the lack of production from Tyler Boyd isn't helping the offense find consistency. Burrow's security blanket has just two games with 70-plus receiving yards this season and none since September.

Sunday set up perfectly for Boyd. The Browns doubled Ja'Marr Chase for much of the afternoon, but Boyd never got going, reeling in one garbage time catch for 11 yards on two targets.

“TB is a big part of what we do," Taylor said afterwards. "It would be a mistake on my part to not have him more involved."

Among seasons where he's played 15-plus games, Boyd is on pace for career lows in targets, receptions, and receiving yards. The slot receiver ranks 31st league-wide in catches (37), 46th in yards (398), 51st in touchdowns (2), and 85th in yards per catch (10.8 YPC).

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Boyd is outperforming his expected yards after catch—yet, that hasn't led to more production. The Pittsburgh product is getting lost in the offensive shuffle, and that has to change for this team to find consistency on offense.

For more on the game, watch the video below.

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