NFL
By Jalen Willingham
After being seen by many to be a contender for the Super Bowl, the Cincinnati Bengals did nothing but disappoint in 2023. Very few things went right for Cincinnati this season. Here are some of the biggest factors that caused them to fall short in 2023.
1. Joe Burrow’s injuries
In a year where Cincinnati had the hardest schedule in the entire NFL, having Burrow would’ve given them a chance to win against anyone. Joe Burrow’s 2023 season was injury plagued from start to finish. After a calf injury in training camp, Burrow decided to play the first month of the regular season instead of taking the necessary time to fully heal. Ja’Marr Chase was right. Burrow should’ve rested for the first month while Jake Browning took over as backup. This was also a time where many fans, including myself, had no faith in Jake Browning and his ability to be a solid backup.
After Burrow’s disappointing year was cut short due to a torn wrist ligament, Browning came in and kept things interesting for Cincinnati in the latter half of the season. I’m glad that we were so wrong about him. He’s obviously not Burrow but for a short time, Jake Browning played good football as a backup quarterback. I wish the organization had more faith in him from the start instead of putting so much pressure on an injured Burrow to play good football.
2. Defensive struggles and regression
The Bengals defense was a massive step down in 2023 compared to 2022. There were many times where the Bengals simply could not get stops consistently. Stopping the run was also a massive issue. Cincinnati is 26th in rushing yards allowed and 31st in average yards a carry
Losing safeties Jessie Bates and Vonn Bell in free agency also play a big role in the defense being much worse in 2023. Defensive Coordinator Lou Anarumo saw this coming in the offseason. Anarumo said that it would be a “dark day” if both Bates and Bell left. The Bengals defense suffered a lot because of it.
Cincinnati made an effort of replacing the talent by having second year safety Daxton Hill take over as starter while also bringing in veteran Nick Scott and rookie Jordan Battle. This still didn’t stop Cincinnati from being 31st in yards allowed and tied for 21st in points allowed though. When you look at the 2022 defense, they were 16th in yards allowed and sixth in points allowed. In a year where the Bengals were looking to contend, they should have made a better effort to acquire players who could help now instead of in the future. They did not. Nick Scott is not enough.
The Bengals secondary does have a bright future at least. The group is very young and features second year players Daxton Hill and Cam Taylor-Britt long with rookies Jordan Battle and DJ Turner. With it being uncertain whether or not Chibobe Awuzie and Mike Helton returns, I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Bengals add to there secondary early on in the 2024 draft either.
The Bengals defensive struggles don’t fall solely on the secondary though. Linebackers Germaine Pratt and Logan Wilson have had down years. No one on the defense can cover a tight end to save their life either.
The pass rush outside of Trey Hendrickson was almost nonexistent even with the Bengals defense having 41 sacks which is tied for 11th in the league. No-one outside of Hendrickson has more than five though. Sam Hubbard, Cameron Sample, Joseph Ossai, Zachary Carter and rookie Myles Murphy have a combined 10.5 sacks between all of them. This is abysmal. It’s even worse when you realize that the Bengals drafted all of those guys. I do believe that Myles Murphy will continue to improve though. He’s 22 with a lot of upside. He needs to produce more in 2024.
Cincinnati also needs to bring in a force to play alongside Hendrickson in the draft, free agency or both. You can never have enough capable pass rushers in todays game. To put this into perspective, the Philadelphia Eagles had 70 sacks on their way to Super Bowl 58. They still went out and drafted Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith to help their pass rush. The team simply needs more.
3. Offensive line… again
The Bengals offensive line is still not up to par after all the money and resources pumped into it. It’s like beating a dead horse at this point. In 2023, Cincinnati offensive line has given up 47 sacks going into week 18. This is the fifth year in a row that the unit has given up over 40 sacks.
Even with adding Orlando Brown Jr. in free agency, the offensive line is still not good enough to win a championship. Joe Burrow has shown that he can get to the biggest stage with incompetent lineman all around him. How much longer will Cincinnati rely on Burrow to be Superman though? How much longer will fans watch their franchise quarterback get killed out there? It’s time to make real changes. Offensive line coach Frank Pollack needs to go. This should be non-negotiable.
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