The Cincinnati Bengals are 0-2 to start the season for the second straight year after a 24-3 loss to the Cleveland Browns and a 27-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2.
Head coach Zac Taylor said Bengals fans should be patient, citing the fact that last season when they had a slow start, they still were only one game away from the Super Bowl. Steven Ruiz of The Ringer says this time it’s different.
He wrote about at what level all eight 0-2 teams should be panicking on a scale from one to 10, and his answer for the Bengals was they should be at a nine out of 10.
Here’s some of what he had to say about their start to the season:
The timing of (Joe) Burrow’s setback could not be worse, with a tricky stretch of games coming up against the Rams (home), Titans (away), and Seahawks (home). Oh, and then the Bengals face the 49ers and Bills back-to-back. Those games will be tough even in the unlikely event that Burrow’s calf heals by then. And two weeks after those tests, Cincinnati will travel to Baltimore for a rematch with the team that just sent it to 0-2. Games against the Cardinals and Texans look like the only sure wins for the next two months.
Cincinnati’s two losses were both to divisional teams, which is another reason this year is worse than last season. They sit last place in the division and will have to beat all three teams each time from here on to have a chance at any tiebreakers.
They do have a tough schedule coming up, and if Burrow isn’t at full health after he reaggravated his calf injury from the preseason, or if he isn’t able to play at all, they likely won’t be favored in almost all of those matchups.
He did finish strong in the second half of Week 2, as Ruiz acknowledges, but limited mobility with a calf injury will make it much tougher for him to improvise when he needs to, allowing defenses to focus more on the pass.
If Burrow comes back healthy and there aren’t any health issues going forward for him, Ruiz said the panic level would be much lower. But he is such an important part of the Bengals teams that have made deep playoff runs it would be a steep climb to even make the playoffs, even this early in the season.
He did say after the game that he wanted to come back out and play, so it sounds like he will be back for next week’s game on Monday night if he has anything to say about it. He didn’t seem confident after the game that his calf was going to heal quickly, though.
“Whenever you have these kinds of things, it’s always ongoing,” he said. “It’s always something that you’re managing. Like I said, I don’t know how I’m going to feel the next couple of days. We’ll have to wait and see.”
It isn’t an encouraging beginning of the season for the Bengals, and many fans are panicking, but for now, they will have to take solace in Taylor’s comments on their situation since he is still preaching to remain calm.
“I feel like we’re in great shape,” he said. “We got some good performances from guys. There are some things we can correct and adjust, then continue to move forward.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]