Tee Higgins Leads All Bengals in Pro Football Focus Grading From Jaguars Loss, Tight Ends Struggling

Cincinnati had a grades land all over the place.

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) grabs his helmet for a drive after being injured in the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 4 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Jacksonville Jaguars at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. The Bengals fell to 2-2 on the season with a 22-17 loss at home. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Bengals fell to Jacksonville 22-17 on Sunday in a penalty-filled contest where Cincinnati's offense fell flat. Pro Football Focus graded it all across 70-plus plays of action for both sides.

Starting on offense, Cincinnati got another great game from Tee Higgins, who led all Bengals with an 89.9 overall grade. Four other Bengals chalked up 70-plus grades on offense: Joe Burrow (83.3), guard Dalton Risner (75.2), wide receiver Dohnte Meyers (73), left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. (70.4).

At the bottom, the tight ends continue dragging down the offense as three of the bottom six grades came from that position. They weren't the worst, though, as guard Dylan Fairchild (47.9) checked in with the third-worst team grade overall on offense or defense. He had a rough day with three penalties mixed in.

The rest of the bottom six went in this order: Tight end Tanner Hudson (51.7), TE Erick All (51.8), center Ted Karras (52.6), running back Samaje Perine (53.2), and TE Drew Sample (57.5).

On defense, the Bengals highs were lower and the lows even lower despite holding the Jaguars to just 22 points. Defensive tackle Jonathan Allen (80.6) led all Bengals defenders with his strong grade. Four other Bengals defenders had grades of 70 or higher: defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence (76.4), defensive end Cedric Johnson (75.6), linebacker Barrett Carter (74.7), and safety Jordan Battle (70.7).

Among high-snap players, DJ Turner II (40.9) had his worst game of the season and had the lowest grade of any Bengal. Oren Burks (27.8) was worse, but he only suited up for 11 snaps. The rest of the sub-55 grades went in this order: Defensive end Cashius Howell (41.5), defensive tackle T.J. Slaton (50.9), defensive end Myles Murphy (52.2), safety Russ Yeast (52.3), and linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. (52.4).

Cincinnati is licking its wounds and hoping to get a lot of names healthier over the coming days. They face one of the worst teams in the NFL this Sunday as Miami awaits, but it's a road game in Florida early in the season. Some of these numbers will have to get better and stay as strong to get back above .500 this week.

Check out the full grades here.

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