Winners and Losers From Cincinnati Bengals' Historic Loss to Minnesota Vikings

MINNEAPOLIS — The Bengals lost to the Vikings 48-10 on Sunday in Minneapolis. It was the worst loss (38 points) in franchise history.

Here are our winners and losers from the game:

Winners

Joe Burrow

In case anyone was wondering how valuable Joe Burrow is to this team ... We saw it firsthand on Sunday. The margin for error is much different when Burrow is on the field. Their entire approach would've been different if he were healthy and playing.

Sunday's loss was ugly, but it was also a reminder of what he means to the Bengals.

Kris Jenkins Jr.

Jenkins finished with six tackles (one for loss), two quarterback hits and 1.5 sacks. The second-year pro appears to have taken a big step forward. The Bengals need him to continue to grow and become a main piece on this defensive front.

Losers

Zac Taylor

Taylor and the Bengals were confident going into Sunday's game, even after Burrow's injury last week. Despite that, this team couldn't get anything going on offense.

Why can't this team run the ball? There are plenty of people to blame. Taylor is on that list.

The Bengals also struggled to get the ball to their star players early in the game. That can't happen. They need to get Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins involved early and often—regardless of the opponent—especially if they're struggling to run the ball.

Bengals' Offensive Line

The offensive line has struggled to run block all season long. They had their worst game of the season on Sunday.

They needed to dominate the Vikings on the ground and they were the ones that ended up getting dominated. The Bengals ran for 53 yards on 21 attempts (2.5 yards-per-attempt).

"There's a lot we have to prove in the run game. It's not pretty right now," Taylor said after the game. "We're not going to run from that. We've got to really identify where we're going to be in the run game, what we're going to hang our hat on, who we're going to run behind. I mean, there's a lot of that going on that we gotta really sort out and identify problems and be able to correct them, on the run and during the course of the week."

Chase Brown

Brown finished with three rushing yards on 10 attempts and averaged a horrendous 0.3 yards-per-carry.

He was awful. The Bengals' blocking was awful. It was all awful.

"Let people have their own opinion about us, and we know what we're capable of," Brown said after the game. "As long as we stay tight and focus on getting better, and you know, get out of our feels and put this behind us, we'll be just fine. Think the main thing that we got to take away as a team is, you know, we got to play with the chip on our shoulder like f*** whatever people say. You know, as long as we're good in this locker room, we'll be just fine."

Jake Browning

Browning completed 19-of-27 passes for 140 yards and two interceptions, including a pick-six in the first half.

The veteran quarterback was also sacked three times and dealt with pressure for most of the game.

Browning didn't make any excuses after the game, even when asked about their lack of success running the football.

"I think you got to sit in it. We got worked today, and you got to sit in it," Browning said. "I don't feel like I played very well. I played my part in us not being able to sustain drives, finish drives throughout the game. And so that's my focus. I'll be sure to really know my run cans and make sure we're running the right plays into the right looks, getting it called right. But I got my own stuff that I'm pretty focused on trying to get better at."

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