The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and Everything In Between

[|High School Harry|]

https://www.cincyjungle.com/2023/11/12/23957923/cincinnati-bengals-4-winners-7-losers-houston-texans

 

4 winners and 7 losers from Bengals’ loss to Texans

This was a tough one swallow.

The Cincinnati Bengals entered Week 10 as one of the NFL’s hottest teams, but it ended with a crushing 30-27 loss to the Houston Texans. Even though there were flashes, both on offense and defense, overall the Bengals were underwhelming for the vast majority of the game.

Here’s a look at this week’s winners and losers.

Winners

Trenton Irwin

When someone said, “Who will step up and make big plays with Tee Higgins out and Ja’Marr Chase hobbled?” The smart money says Tyler Boyd or maybe one of the tight ends, but smart money doesn’t know Trenton Irwin. It’s always Irwin.

The Bengals’ opening drive was capped off by a 32-yard pass from Joe Burrow, perfectly dropped into Irwin’s arms, beating Cover 2 as he entered the end zone down the sideline. Irwin finished with two catches for 54 yards and a touchdown, proving once again to be one of Burrow’s most trusted targets.

Cam Taylor-Britt

The second-year defensive back is making a name as one of the best in the league. He intercepted his fourth pass of the season on Sunday against the Texans, in a crucial moment in the fourth quarter. It was almost a pick-six, but CTB was caught from behind just before he crossed into the end zone.

Brad Robbins

Robbins was called on a lot, punting in five consecutive drives after the Bengals opened the game with a touchdown. Those five punts averaged 51.8 yards, and he dropped two of them in the opposing 20.

The Bengals selected him in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft because of his long hang time. That was on display Sunday.

Ja’Marr Chase

Hurt back? No problem.

Chase finished the game with five receptions, 124 yards, and a touchdown. Not much worked for the Bengals offense throughout much of the game, but when nothing else worked, Burrow to Chase still did.

The Texans haven’t given up 100 yards to a receiver in 12 consecutive games coming into Week 10, but Chase ended their streak.

Losers

Pass Rush

No Sam Hubbard, no problem, right? 

Right?

I mean, they have Joseph Ossai and rookie first-round pick Myles Murphy, so it’s okay, right? 

No?

Okay... no. 

There was no pass rush. Outside of a handful of plays where CJ Stroud was actually pressured enough to make him drop his eyes, he sat comfortably until he found a receiver, sometimes on his third or fourth read. Stroud absolutely shredded the secondary.

The whole offense until late in the third quarter 

The Bengals' offense has this habit of coming out of the game on fire, scoring a touchdown, which they did again today. And then, after that, the offense falls asleep. Now, in the last two weeks, the offense picked it back up, but not against the Texans. 

They punted five consecutive times after that first drive and wouldn’t score again until late in the third quarter, at that point, it proved to be too little, too late. 

Defense

The Bengals defense had some big plays, like CTB’s almost pick-six, but in general, they struggled against the pass and the run, which is another way of saying the defense was just bad on Sunday.

The Texans offense ran the ball down the Bengals throats. Devin Singletary had 150 rushing yards and a touchdown all by himself, breaking several bad tackles on the way. Stroud only had one touchdown pass and threw a bad interception, but he also had 356 yards in the air. 

Tyler Boyd

He finished with eight receptions for 117 yards, but this dropped touchdown killed the Bengals in the end.

 

Offensive line

Not only was Burrow without Higgins and Chase wasn’t 100%, but the offensive line often didn’t give Burrow the time he needed to find a receiver down the field. To be fair, the Texans secondary did a very good job keeping everything in front of them, but there were times Burrow never had a chance. He was sacked four times. 

Bengals playoff chances

There’s still plenty of time left before the season ends. (?)

The defensive outlook for the season if......

It’s too early to know what happened to Trey Hendrickson at the end of the game, but things didn’t look great. I hope he’s okay, and we won’t know for a day or two. 

But if he’s not........

Well, you saw how effective the pass rush was today without Sam Hubbard.

So, what do you think it’ll look like if Hendrickson misses significant time?

[|High School Harry|]

I am refraining from saying much of anything for awhile

until I step back from the ledge.

But your turn...

[I_C_Deadpeople]

After the 1-3 start there was little room for egg laying. No we not only face the Ravens , we face the pissed off Ravens. Lose and it is time for the 2024 draft thread. 

[texbengal]

Can definitely see 5-5. I'll be happily surprised if not. Even then, I don't think the season is over...  but they need to make it to 10-7 to get a playoff shot, I believe. But it'll definitely be a WC slot. 

 

Just really disappointed in the D yesterday, in particular. Really poor tackling, guys running free everywhere. As much as I loved Chido's play the past few years, he's been bad - really, all year  Scott is really bad. Ossai has been MIA. Sample was having a pretty solid year, but he sucked yesterday. Backup DT play is poor... Zach Carter hasn't shown up at all. LB play wasn't good... a lot of the missed tackles seemed like they were at the second level yesterday. 

 

I've never been a fan of Zac's playcalling. Too many dead spots. Irv Smith has been a liability. Tee has, by and large, been MIA. No productivity at RB after Mixon. And OL play yesterday, and in several other games, has been subpar. In particular, interior play. Cappa has struggled a lot, as has Volson, and really, Karras is nothing more than an average C. Orlando Brown has had some moments, but he's struggled too... like yesterday. 

 

Just a lot of meh... they have had some impressive play at times, but overall, they've been underwhelming. Gotta step it up or they'll be watching games on the couch come early January. 

[Jamie_B]

49 minutes ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

After the 1-3 start there was little room for egg laying. No we not only face the Ravens , we face the pissed off Ravens. Lose and it is time for the 2024 draft thread. 

 

Both teams are going to have a bad taste in their mouth.

[SmoothD]

Letting a journeyman RB torch the defense for 150 yards is more concerning.

The Texans used max protection for Stroud all game and he continued to find WIDE OPEN receivers when he needed to.

Not having a spy on him on his TD run was another huge mistake.

Lou A. underestimated Stroud ability to read defenses and paid dearly for it.

 

[|Montana Bengal|]

 

 

[Jamie_B]

5 minutes ago, SmoothD said:

Letting a journeyman RB torch the defense for 150 yards is more concerning.

The Texans used max protection for Stroud all game and he continued to find WIDE OPEN receivers when he needed to.

Not having a spy on him on his TD run was another huge mistake.

Lou A. underestimated Stroud ability to read defenses and paid dearly for it.

 

 

We were really good against the run last year, and really bad this year.

 

Same front 7. 

 

What is the problem?

[HavePityPlease]

38 minutes ago, texbengal said:

Can definitely see 5-5. I'll be happily surprised if not. Even then, I don't think the season is over...  but they need to make it to 10-7 to get a playoff shot, I believe. But it'll definitely be a WC slot. 

 

Just really disappointed in the D yesterday, in particular. Really poor tackling, guys running free everywhere. As much as I loved Chido's play the past few years, he's been bad - really, all year  Scott is really bad. Ossai has been MIA. Sample was having a pretty solid year, but he sucked yesterday. Backup DT play is poor... Zach Carter hasn't shown up at all. LB play wasn't good... a lot of the missed tackles seemed like they were at the second level yesterday. 

 

I've never been a fan of Zac's playcalling. Too many dead spots. Irv Smith has been a liability. Tee has, by and large, been MIA. No productivity at RB after Mixon. And OL play yesterday, and in several other games, has been subpar. In particular, interior play. Cappa has struggled a lot, as has Volson, and really, Karras is nothing more than an average C. Orlando Brown has had some moments, but he's struggled too... like yesterday. 

 

Just a lot of meh... they have had some impressive play at times, but overall, they've been underwhelming. Gotta step it up or they'll be watching games on the couch come early January. 

 

Good observations, I agree that Chido has been hot and cold this season and Scott is a failure.  Ossai never really did a whole lot before so I wasn't expecting much but agreed he's just invisible.  The second-level tackling has been a problem all year, if teams manage to block (or hold) our DL in the run game they will get decent if not obscene yards.  This is what losing our two starting safeties has bought us.

 

Tee I'd give a bit of a pass because he got hurt early but he has played somewhat soft anyway (I suspect he's trying to preserve himself in case he's a free agent).  I think the OL unit suffers from Volson being a liability and Cappa I suspect hasn't completely recovered from his more recent injuries (he loses his footing a lot).  Karras I'm very happy about, we've had too many sorry C's for me to ignore what he's brought to the unit.  Overall they need improvement here, but somehow it's still the best line Joe has had.

[Mikeslumina]

Ravens might run it 50 times Thursday. Dax hill seems like a bust.  How are tight ends just wide open in a Tampa 2 against our defense? The safeties need to not be back 50 yards like a prevent defense. Their awareness  is terrible withNo pressure shows lack of coverage and tackling, sure didn’t help. all that, and if a guy catches the ball we might win. Burrow is probably better than we all know he already is. I don’t see anyone else doing all that yesterday with no oline, 4th string receivers and no running game. other than maholmes. I thought mixon played well and should have been given a chance on goal line, that qb sneak was stupid, too. That’s Nfl, any given Sunday. Hopefully we get healthy and win Thursday. Any update on tre?

Hats  off to stroud, he looked really good. 

[Jamie_B]

8 minutes ago, Mikeslumina said:

Ravens might run it 50 times Thursday. Dax hill seems like a bust.  How are tight ends just wide open in a Tampa 2 against our defense? The safeties need to not be back 50 yards like a prevent defense. Their awareness  is terrible withNo pressure shows lack of coverage and tackling, sure didn’t help. all that, and if a guy catches the ball we might win. Burrow is probably better than we all know he already is. I don’t see anyone else doing all that yesterday with no oline, 4th string receivers and no running game. other than maholmes. I thought mixon played well and should have been given a chance on goal line, that qb sneak was stupid, too. That’s Nfl, any given Sunday. Hopefully we get healthy and win Thursday. Any update on tre?

Hats  off to stroud, he looked really good. 

 

Hyper extended knee, got  the MRI waiting on results. Sounds like best case is he will be out short term. Let's hope it's the best case and not the worst one.

[SmoothD]

Maybe it's just me but it seemed like the defense had no answer for the Texans offense.

Which is weird because Carolina and Atlanta both held the Texans to under 20 points.

 

[Arkansas Bengal]

 

[Jamie_B]

6 minutes ago, SmoothD said:

Maybe it's just me but it seemed like the defense had no answer for the Texans offense.

Which is weird because Carolina and Atlanta both held the Texans to under 20 points.

 

 

And I know Lou was not overlooking them. He made comments about how Stroud looked during the week.

[Griever]

 

[Jamie_B]

The refusal to run the ball goes back to Bob Bratkowski and hasn't changed in this new regime either. When the Oline opens holes like Kappa (who had a bad game yesterday otherwise) here Mixon will hit them. I'm not suggesting we be a run first team with Joe Burrow as our QB, but they are hamstringing the O because the running game isn't a threat, allowing the safeties to double cover and not respect the run.

[claptonrocks]

38 minutes ago, SmoothD said:

Maybe it's just me but it seemed like the defense had no answer for the Texans offense.

Which is weird because Carolina and Atlanta both held the Texans to under 20 points.

 

No pressure on Stroud.

He had time all day long.

Without Hubbard the running gaps were open on his side.

Long day for the D...

[Cat]

39 minutes ago, Jamie_B said:

The refusal to run the ball goes back to Bob Bratkowski and hasn't changed in this new regime either. When the Oline opens holes like Kappa (who had a bad game yesterday otherwise) here Mixon will hit them. I'm not suggesting we be a run first team with Joe Burrow as our QB, but they are hamstringing the O because the running game isn't a threat, allowing the safeties to double cover and not respect the run.

That clip is misleading - Mixon got stuffed a lot too. Not directing to you per se - but I see it on Reddit too. "Why don't we run more?" Because we don't run block for shit.

[|High School Harry|]

53 minutes ago, Griever said:

 

 

10 minutes ago, Cat said:

That clip is misleading - Mixon got stuffed a lot too. Not directing to you per se - but I see it on Reddit too. "Why don't we run more?" Because we don't run block for shit.

And had 46 yards.

Longest 15

So on the other 10 rushes, a whopping 31 yards.

Joe Burrow's longest run was 17 yards.

 

 

[Jamie_B]

21 minutes ago, Cat said:

That clip is misleading - Mixon got stuffed a lot too. Not directing to you per se - but I see it on Reddit too. "Why don't we run more?" Because we don't run block for shit.

 

 

Believe me I am captain of team "we don't run block for shit". 

[T-Dub]

24 minutes ago, Cat said:

That clip is misleading - Mixon got stuffed a lot too. Not directing to you per se - but I see it on Reddit too. "Why don't we run more?" Because we don't run block for shit.

 

OK but they also don't pass block for shit. 4 sacks, IDK how many hits & pressures, 2 INTs.

 

Mixon isn't typically a fumbler so the worst case on a run is losing a couple of yards. Meanwhile, defenses aren't teeing off on our freshly minted $250 million MVP QB.

 

 

[T-Dub]

Was the DL bad or were the refs letting their OL hold all day because they're trying to hype up Stroud? 

[Jamie_B]

13 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

Was the DL bad or were the refs letting their OL hold all day because they're trying to hype up Stroud? 

 

Both.

 

There were some really obvious holds that went uncalled. I was screaming at my TV.

 

But they also we're not getting home when the holds weren't happening either.

[Arkansas Bengal]

One thing I noticed yesterday was that Mixon and the receivers rarely broke any tackles - they usually went down as soon as they were touched.  If that happens again Thursday, we're going to get killed.

[PatternMaster]

Yesterday was a kick in the nuts, very disappointing performance by the Bengals at home vs an AFC opponent, this is the type of game that can hurt your playoff chances if there is a tie-breaker...the Bengals were supposed to be better than this, but in reality, they are not.... here are my observations:

 

• Zac Taylor gets too pass happy with the play calling, he goes away from the run too early and doesn't call runs when the situation screams for it. Example #1, right after TB83 great catch and run and the Bengals are on the 9-yard line, with under two minutes to go and it's first and goal. You have to run the ball to force Houston to call a TO or run down the clock, they did neither and it bit them in the ass later on when Houston had a TO and enough clock to get in FG range to win the game...that is basic level call playing that Zac frequently gets wrong but the Bengals superior offensive talent covers up for him. Taylor got out-coached by Ryans, a rookie HC with a  rookie QB...it was embarrassing. 
• TB83 has to catch the ball in the end zone, an upcoming free agent that wants a big payday can't afford to drop that pass. I know he's sick about it but he has to catch the ball in that situation
• Germaine Pratt's tackling is a problem, he went for the strip on Noah Brown instead of going for the tackle in a crucial moment and turned a +45-yard field goal into a very makeable field goal. He was taking poor angles and whiffing on tackles all game, yes he makes big plays with strips and INTs but he has to tackle better since that is literally his main job function.
• The safety play was awful, Nick Scott should be benched immediately. He's on a 1-year deal and I would rather see the rookie back there learning and making mistakes than a guy that won't be here next year. Not sure why the Bengals didn't outbid Carolina for Vonn Bell but that was a big mistake as the defense isn't on the same level as last year mainly because of the inconsistent play in the secondary, starting with the safeties...those guys were running around like they had no clue or awareness and Scott was frequently out of position and whiffing on tackles when he was in position...

 

The Bengals came into this game with low energy and thinking that they were the better team, they need to have more sense of urgency and commitment to details and fundamentals if they are going to do anything this season. It's unfortunate but every game is now a must-win.