Cincinnati Bengals: 4 key takeaways from their 49-13 loss vs Ravens
By Steve Rivera
For those fans believing that Finley was the medicine for a near historically bad Cincinnati Bengals team, you haven’t been paying attention. The home team didn’t become bad in 2019. They have been bad for a good while. From top to bottom of this organization, there is a rot that has settled in. Finley doesn’t fix that.
When the Bengals go to draft next April, it likely will be the first or second pick, and it will be a quarterback. Even if Dalton had only produced a less lopsided loss, Cincinnati is making a course correction at that position. Yesterday’s 49-13 loss against a very good Baltimore team doesn’t change that.
As for Finely, who knows. The jury will be out for the balance of the season on that question. During this eight-game evaluation process, he will have a chance to show whether he is or is not an NFL prospect at the single most critical position in the league. One game doesn’t change that equation.
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The bottom line is this: The Cincinnati Bengals do not have near enough talent to change any of the nine losses on the ledger. Perhaps, maybe, Finley shows that he is good enough to be on this roster at the second spot on the depth chart. Unless he produces a string of victories this second half, he’s merely a placeholder for whoever comes next. Yesterday doesn’t change that.