The Cincinnati Bengals entered Sunday Night Football looking to climb above .500 for the first time this season. The Super Bowl hangover is real and the Bengals were feeling it the first couple of weeks. Bengals QB Joe Burrow was struggling to get the ball out his hands. Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins were not producing to the level expected. Even Joe Mixon and the Bengals run game had become completely ineffective.
After falling behind by double digits early, the Bengals got back into the game. They ultimately took a lead late in the fourth quarter but Ravens QB Lamar Jackson carried his team, quite literally, to victory, 19-17. The loss dropped Cincinnati back below .500, snapping their two-game win streak.
There were a number of things the Bengals did well in the loss. However, there were also some things that Cincinnati will need to took at on tape and attempt to rectify.
Here are the 4 Bengals takeaways after their Week 5 loss to the Ravens.
4. Cincinnati secondary continues to impress
With all of the talk always surrounding Burrow and the offense, not much attention has been paid to the defense. But once again for the fifth straight week, the seconday performed very well. They held Lamar Jackson to 19-for-32 passing, for just 174 yards with one touchdown and one interception. It was easily Jackson's worst game of the season.
It was a good measuring stick considering the previous opponents. The Bengals defense had done a good job against the Steelers, Jets, Cowboys and Dolphins. But that is Mitchell Trubisky, Joe Flacco, Cooper Rush and Teddy Bridgewater.
3. Bengals running game shows signs of life
The Ravens defense has essentially been a pass funnel defense. Teams had been lighting them up through the air all season, to an almost historic pace. It was believed that Burrow, Chase and Higgins would continue that trend. Instead, the Ravens secondary played their first good game of the season.
With so much focus on the passing attack, Mixon and the ground game found some holes. Mixon finished with 78 yards on just 14 carries. That is almost six yards a pop on the ground. Prior to Sunday's game, Mixon was the least effective rusher in the NFL. He had rushed the second most times in the league, but was 24th in rushing.
#Bengals RB Joe Mixon:
*Team-high 88 yards from scrimmage last week.
*Posted 70+ yards from scrimmage in four of five games this season.
*In his last meeting against the Saints, posted 85 yards from scrimmage (61 yards rushing, 24 receiving).— Josh Kirkendall (@Josh_Kirkendall) October 11, 2022
As a team, the Bengals ran for 101 yards. That's not a big number. But they did that averaging 4.8 yards per carry. That's a season-high against a solid rush defense. By no means does this mean the Bengals ground game is suddenly fixed. But it is a sign of life where there otherwise wasn't one previously.
2. Tee Higgins leaves early with ankle injury
Bengals receiver Tee Higgins entered Sunday night's game with an ankle injury. He was questionable to play but Zac Taylor announced he would suit up. It's not yet known whether or not he re-aggravated the injury or not. But what we do know is that he barely played.
Higgins drew the start but played a total of 10 snaps. Taylor said that the receiver is day-to-day and could have played situationally. That seems like a strange comment. There were plenty of ‘situations' where the Bengals could have used the talented Higgins. Prior to his injury, Higgins had proven to be among the best receivers in the league.
Highest-graded WR vs single coverage | 2022:
Tee Higgins – 92.3 pic.twitter.com/q14gLP0lYM
— PFF (@PFF) October 7, 2022
This is certainly a situation worth monitoring ahead of the Bengals Week 6 matchup vs. the New Orleans Saints.
1. Bengals offensive line continuing to improve
One of the main storylines this offseason was Cincinnati aggressively addressing their issue up front. Joe Burrow led the NFL in sacks last season, including the playoffs. It was evident that it was a serious problem and was the primary reason they lost Super Bowl LVI to the Los Angeles Rams.
During the offseason, they spent a ton of money to bring in Ted Karras, Alex Cappa and La'El Collins. That is a serious commitment to address a key need. Unfortunately, through the first few weeks of the season, it did not appear to make any difference. Burrow was once again among the league leaders in quarterbacks being sacked.
But over the last two weeks, he has only been sacked a total of three times. The Bengals offensive line once again did a decent job giving Burrow time to throw Sunday. He finished 24-for-35 for 217 yards with one touchdown and one interception. For the most part, he had a clean pocket. The Ravens just did a very good job defensively.
If Cincinnati can continue protecting Burrow, the offense will come. They are simply too talented not to.
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