Four Takeaways Following the Bengals' Loss to the Cowboys

Cincinnati is 0-2 after Sunday's loss.

The Cincinnati Bengals lost again on Sunday, despite their matchup with the Cowboys seeming like one of the easier games on their schedule. They were touchdown favorites for the second straight week and they blew it. The offense looked like a disaster and the defense couldn't stop Cooper Rush with the game on the line. The sky isn't falling, but at this point the alarm bells have to be ringing a little bit.

Here are our takeaways following the 20-17 loss.

History of 0-2 Teams

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The Bengals are in trouble now that they have started 0-2. Never mind that this is the easy portion of their schedule and they still have to play the Ravens twice, the Bills, the Chiefs, and the Buccaneers, but teams that start 0-2 haven't had much success historically.

Only 9.5% of teams that start 0-2 make the playoffs. The last time a team was able to pull this off was in 2018 when both the Texans and Seahawks started 0-2 and finished with 10+ wins and a playoff appearance. Only 14% of teams that start 0-2 even finish with a winning record.

On the bright side, there have been 4 teams to start 0-2 and make the Super Bowl and 3 of those 4 teams won the Super Bowl. The 2007 Giants are the most recent example.

While it's not all doom and gloom with this disastrous start, it is now a concern for a team that had big aspirations coming into this season.

Sacks Tell The Story

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When Joe Burrow is sacked, the team struggles. Burrow and Bengals are 3-10-1 including the playoffs when he is sacked four or more times in a game. The team is 3-4 when he's sacked three or more sacks in a game. They're 9-2 in games he's sacked two times or less. It's also rough to see that through his career, Burrow has been sacked four or more times the most from this grouping.

It doesn't matter if these sacks are a result of the offense line, the quarterback himself, the play calling, the receivers not getting open, etc. This needs to be remedied quickly. 

Burrow will not survive a season of this brutality. The truth is that everyone has some fault in this and they all need to play better. There is no singular finger to point as the culprit. Burrow is dropping his eyes and running into sacks once he feels pressure, the offensive line has looked like a disappointment, and the receivers and concepts don't have quick answers. Everyone needs to play better and show up next week in New York or this season could be going down the tubes very quickly.

The Offense Is Bottled Up

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This offense has been anything but exciting through two games. The longest play of the year so far was Joe Mixon's 31 yard scamper on 4th-and-1 against the Steelers. The longest pass of the year was 24 yards to Ja'Marr Chase off of play action. The longest play of the game for the Bengals offense on Sunday was a 19-yard throw to Tee Higgins.

Last season, the Bengals only had two games where their longest pass was 20 or less yards. There were 14 games including the playoffs where the Bengals had at least one 40+ yard completion. Even when the offense was bottled up at times, they managed to find explosive plays.

This offense right now is anything but exciting. They are the major disappointment so far of the 2022 season when they were expected to be one of the best units. Managing 10+ play drives or banking on short fields is not a winning business model. They need to find a way to generate explosive plays down the field if they want to be a top offense. Even with the best wide receiver group in the league, this offense isn't scaring anyone right now.

The Defense Needs To Step Up

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The offense has been a train wreck and the defense has played well. The issue is that while the offense is working through its issues, the defense needs to be even better. They played well enough to win this past week against the Cowboys, but they put the team in a hole by giving up two early touchdowns. Then after 2.5 quarters of great play, they allow Rush to drive down the field for the game-winning kick. That's not acceptable right now.

It's a hard spot, but the defense needs to play at a top 5-8 level to pick up the slack of the offense. They have to shut down the opposition when it's Mitch Trubisky or Cooper Rush at quarterback. They get another easy assignment at quarterback next week in Joe Flacco, but after that, they have to play against some real offenses. It's not totally fair, but the defense needs to pick up the slack of the offense right now and they haven't done that.

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