The Cincinnati Bengals had a rough start to Week 1 of the 2024 season. Cincinnati looked sluggish and sloppy in a 16-10 upset loss to the Patriots and rookie head coach Jerod Mayo. One ESPN analyst spent some time breaking down QB Joe Burrow's struggles on a recent podcast.
ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit always keeps a close eye on the Bengals as he grew up a fan of the team and played at Ohio State University. Herbstreit was critical of the team during a recent episode of This is Football.
“To me they can’t run the football and they're struggling to protect the quarterback,” Herbstreit said. “So I don't care who you are at quarterback, when you can't run the football effectively, and you can't protect obviously that's a recipe for disaster. So the offense was out of rhythm constantly behind the chains. I think the backs that they have are going to be very good but they're going to have to build some more continuity on that that offensive line.”
Herbstreit doesn’t put much blame on Joe Burrow himself, but thinks that poor offensive line play was the biggest issue in Burrow’s struggles against the Patriots.
Herbstreit also added that Burrow's top 2 WRs (Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins) feuding with the team over contract disputes isn’t helping.
“A lot of drama with the Bengals, Tee Higgins he didn’t play yesterday, he’s frustrated with his contract. Everyone is assuming it’s his last year in Cincy,” Herbstreit continued. “Ja'Marr Chase with 2 years left on his deal, held out pretty much all of camp. Surprised some people he even played this game against the Patriots. So just a lot going on, obviously it’s a long season, but they’re going to have to get the continuity up front to get Joe to get back to be able to play in rhythm again.”
Should Bengals fans be worried about the Week 1 loss to Patriots?
Most Bengals fans are probably asking themselves right now: should I be worried about Cincinnati after Week 1?
It is hard to know exactly what to think after just one game.
Cincinnati has a penchant for starting the regular season slow and getting progressively better throughout the season. This is especially true under head coach Zac Taylor.
The Bengals have not won in Week 1 since 2021, when they squeaked out a 27-24 victory over the Vikings.
Let's also take a positive spin on some of the things that went wrong in Week 1. Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins will not be injured or less than 100% forever. It may take some time, but the offense should find its rhythm once those two receivers start hitting their stride.
The Bengals also had a handful of turnovers and other gaffes in the game that should not be common sights. Mike Gesicki had a touchdown overturned on review and Tanner Hudson was stripped near the end zone as well. If either of those plays went the other way, we may be talking about a Bengals win in Week 1.
Cincinnati will need to figure something out in a hurry. The Bengals travel to Arrowhead to face the Chiefs in an important Week 2 showdown.
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