Bengals Home Undefeated Streak Ends in Embarrassment

Nov 6, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns defensive end Billy Winn (90) sacks Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) during the third quarter at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

The Cincinnati Bengals offense looked as bad as they did in Indianapolis, the defense tackled as good as a peewee football team, and the Bengals lose their first division game of the season at home to the Cleveland Browns.  It is also their first home game since the 2012 season. Bengals lost in embarrassing fashion 24-3.

Andy Dalton missed several throws and it seemed like the Bengals offense did not want to be anywhere near Paul Brown Stadium mentally and Dalton was probably the biggest offender. The Browns defense seemed to have the Bengals playbook or Hue Jackson finally ran out of tricks in his bag. The running game was a bright spot until Jeremy Hill forgot he had the ball, which is the only excuse for not taking care of it, and fumbled after what looked to be a large gain. Andy Dalton’s turnover problems couldn’t be solved either as he threw three interceptions. He had terrible protection all game long, which didn’t help his decision making and along with his poor field vision gave the defense a long night.

The defense looked like a peewee football team, missing tackles, dropping balls that were good turnover opportunities. The only bright spot here is that the Bengals linebackers showed up to play, making many of the stops and getting any of the pressure to Brian Hoyer. Outside of that, this was arguably as bad as the night in New England. There should be no excuses for the number of missed tackles and the defensive line led the way with most of them.

The Bengals special teams unit played for the only turnover, with Huber and the punt teams playing the best football of anybody on this team. He had deep punts and they forced the turnover that led to the only points. Mike Nugent hit his field goal, which turned into the only scoring drive of the night for the Bengals. The Bengals special teams should be the only ones excused after this game is over.

The Bengals played the most uninspiring game of football on a night that was made to celebrate the most inspiring person on the team, Leah Still. She has been battling stage four pediatric cancer and the Bengals organization raised $1.3 million for cancer research at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. The shame for this organization is instead of a solid battle on the field, she proved to have the most heart in Paul Brown Stadium on Thursday Night. Injuries didn’t help the cause but if the depth is that poor then they need to look elsewhere for help, especially after letting the trade deadline pass with no moves made. I guess I shouldn’t have dropped the Browns defense in Fantasy this week.