Are Bengals history? Or does history favor Bengals?
Can the Cincinnati Bengals rebound from another slow start? (Mike Bass photo)
By Mike Bass
mbass@mikebasscoaching.com
The Bengals were launching a tradition, they said. Open in Orange, they called it. An Orange Out, they wanted.
They got another lemon.
Team Time Loop transported us back to 2023 and 2022 by opening the way they always open. This time, New England upset the Bengals on Sunday – although is it really an upset when Cincinnati drops Game 1?
And keeping with tradition, many of you flocked to social media afterward to blame Zac Taylor. Why wasn’t the team better prepared? Why does it keep happening? You had every right to be angry. Again.
Once the immediate emotion dissipated, I turned to X as @SportsFanCoach1 for our usual day-after-game session, wondering what gives you hope after another 0-1 start.
“Nothing,” @JayIce94 replied.
Nothing?
“Not a damn thing,” @LegitBenDavis replied.
There must be something.
“The wifi worked really well in stadium yesterday,” @andhesonit51 wrote.
Sure, that helps the overall experience (and makes it easier to vent virtually AND in person), but I’m not sure that gives you hope about the Bengals themselves.
“We found a punter,” @Sdh2442 wrote. “That’s about all I got after yesterday.”
If that was all you got, I get it.
Seeing past another opening loss is hard.
Especially that one.
But what if you can find hope in 0-1?
“I guess it’s a cheeky response, but history,” @CoachKnox17 wrote. “We’ve started off cold before, and while it’s a frustrating performance vs a team like NE, I still expect them to come around again. But man, those offseason roster decisions [Reader, Mixon] don’t look good right now!”
Is that a cheeky response? Or a comforting memory?
Hope is where you see it.
“All of the other 0-1 starts that turned out okay,” @instantlyrich wrote.
Actually, the Bengals started 0-2 in 2022 and made the AFC title game. They also began 0-2 in 2023 and seemed poised for another run until Joe Burrow went down and out. So 0-1 doesn’t sound that bad, does it?
No matter how bad it looked.
“This team won(’)t win much playing like they did,” @awesomealexmur1 wrote, “however we (have) shown before and i hate (having to do) it but we are capable of making adjustments and turning it on after the first quarter of the season.”
Since the schedule and playoffs expanded, early blips are easier to overcome. A number of teams safeguard their starters in the preseason. It makes opening weeks awfully unpredictable, but makes the Bengals predictably awful.
“Been there done that, what was (Bill Belichick’s) record in Sept,” @bengalralph wrote. “He always used the 1st qtr of the season to get his teams settled, got better as season progressed. This game was an obvious outlier. Taylor's teams have rarely fumbled. Biggest positive THEY HAVE A PUNTER.”
“We finally have a punter that can flip the field,” @rickll49 wrote, “which if the defense starts tackling could be huge.”
“Tackling and turnovers were the biggest issues and are fixable,” @HadersX wrote.
So you have a punter and Wi-Fi, history and fixable issues. Anything else?
“We have Joe Burrow,” @thebengalbabe wrote.
Oh, yeah, that guy.
Just not the version you saw at quarterback Sunday.
He never seems quite right at the start of a season, always recovering from ... something. It never lasts.
Ask for a list of three reasons to be hopeful at 0-1, and guess who figures to be at the top.
“1. They still have Joe Burrow and this will most likely be his worst game of the season,” @KHM4PMS wrote. “2. It's one game, still 16 more to go. 3. They're tied for 2nd in their division and haven't been eliminated from playoff contention yet, I don't think.”
When one loss is your entire season, it just feels worse. What if the Bengals stay this bad? What if they take too long to right themselves? How could the rebuilding Patriots turn the Super Bowl-worthy Bengals into patsies?
Look at the chaos just with the receivers since last season. Tyler Boyd was not re-signed. Tee Higgins was franchised, then missed the opener with a hamstring injury. Ja’Marr Chase was not extended, staged a hold-in, suffered food poisoning and tried to play, anyway, Sunday.
“Sigh. Yesterday was rough b/c with all the talent & chemistry on this team, I didn’t expect them to struggle against NE,” @whodeynorth posted. “The entire Bengals organization has to focus energy away from contracts etc & back to being a genuinely connected group.”
Yet somehow the Bengals only lost by six points. They had the ball late in the fourth quarter. Normally, this is when Joey B takes over. They went three-and-out.
“It’s amazing they even had a shot to win the game with all the plays that didn’t bounce our way,” @DeyNati85 wrote. “I was worried about that game. Not worried about the season honestly.”
“Too much went wrong and we were STILL 1-2 plays away from winning the game,” @Truck_1_0_1_ wrote. “Burrow got hit [something he always says he needs it to happen right away] and we will be healthier/smarter going into next week. Not worried at all 👌.”
The Chiefs lost their opener last season and won the Super Bowl. The 2020s Bengals are all about the finishing kick. They are 1-5 in openers under Taylor.
“We've been here before,” @BengalsCaptain wrote. “It's unfortunate that we're here again considering the additional hype to kick off the season, but it's not something new that we're not sure they'll navigate. The uncertainty around contracts and such adds a new wrinkle, but if we can get back in the win column quickly, I think momentum can build.”
A Minnesota Vikings fumble in overtime set up Taylor’s only opening win. That was in 2021, the Super Bowl season. On Sunday, the Bengals were the ones unable to hold onto the ball, according to @JNJournalist.
“But KC is a brand new Dey. 🐅🐅🐅” she posted.
Yep, the game is in Kansas City. Taylor has never won a Game 2. But win this one, and the Bengals will be 1-1, same as they were in 2021. Imagine how that would feel.
Losing to the Chiefs wouldn’t shock anyone. But you have history rebounding from 0-2. You know there is hope.
“Bengals seem to usually stumble out of the gate,” @NaughtonArt wrote. “I do not think they will play this bad again this year. Each player & coach aside from the punter, has fire under their butts to improve this week. Yes, I am trying to be optimistic in life, ha!”