Cincinnati Bengals: Fall Further from Playoff Hopes
The Cincinnati Bengals found a new way to lose on Monday Night Football, and with the help of the officials, put themselves a game and a half behind the Ravens for the AFC North and playoff chances.
The Bengals are now 3-5-1 after dropping another close game to a team with an above .500 record. They are now 0-5-1 against winning teams and with only seven games remaining, find themselves struggling to find both wins and playoff hopes.
The Bengals seemed to play two of the four quarters required to win a game in the NFL. After allowing a first drive touchdown in the first quarter, Andy Dalton and Ken Zampese found a play to respond with a 71 yard pass to Tyler Eifert on a wacky offensive play call. Andy Dalton finished with 16 completions on 29 attempts for 204 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
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The offensive line and play calling went down hill with terrible play in the fourth quarter. After keeping Dalton relatively clean for the most part. The offensive line gave up a quarterback hit to Jason Piere-Paul and then back to back quarterback sacks. When the Bengals needed the offense to step up and get a field goal to regain the lead late in the fourth, it didn’t happen.
The defense forced two interceptions, one by Dre Kirkpatrick and another by George Iloka. The Bengals were getting pressure on Eli Manning, however the tackling was still terrible, and when the Bengals needed a late stop, couldn’t bring down Rashard Jennings to get the ball back late and then a first down to seal the win for the Giants.
The Cincinnati Bengals proved they are no where near the same team as we have seen for the past five years. They should not be missing Marvin Jones, Mohamed Sanu, or Reggie Nelson, but they are. This coaching staff are not getting it down and aren’t making the adjustments needed to win.
Next: Officials and Penalties are Hurting This Bengals Team
Is it time for a coaching change or is it just an adjustment thing with new coaches and systems? Either way, the Bengals will not find anything if they continue to lose both close games and to winning teams. Ravens now lead by a game and a half and in second are the Steelers by a half game.