The Cincinnati Bengals lost to the Chicago Bears in Week 2 by a score of 20-17. While it was a frustrating loss, three players showed that they’re heading in the right direction. On the other hand, three players had a rough game and saw their stock taking a hit as a result.
Let’s jump right in to the players trending up and the players who find themselves trending down.
Trending Up: D.J. Reader
Shortly after the 2020 season concluded, Stripe Hype’s Alex Austin wrote about how the Bengals could expect to see their run defense improve with a healthy D.J. Reader in the lineup. Jack Lane of Stripe Hype discussed the role that Reader could play this year and mentioned how effective he’d be in the run game.
The Bengals run defense was putrid last year but Reader was injured for a large portion of the season. This year, however, he’s been healthy through two games and showed what kind of impact he can make.
To this point, Reader has totaled six tackles and a sack while also making his presence felt upfront. It’s hard not to be impressed with Reader and what he’s brought to the defense through just the first two games.
Trending Down: Joe Burrow
It’s difficult to put too much blame on Joe Burrow considering how badly his offensive line has looked and how conservative the play-calling has been through two games. But, at the end of the day, when a quarterback doesn’t get the job done, the blame falls on his shoulders and that’s the nature of the position.
Burrow has thrown for 468 yards, four touchdowns, and three interceptions in the first two weeks of the season. All three of those interceptions came in the loss to the Bears and not only that but they happened on back-to-back-to-back throws. Yeah, not a great day for Burrow.
In Burrow’s defense, he hasn’t had much protection upfront to make those big throws that Bengals fans have been clamoring for. While I understand Zac Taylor’s hesistance in calling plays that could result in a hard hit on Burrow, it’s going to be hard to win games if he’s not able to do what made him a No. 1 overall pick and Heisman Trophy winner.
Trending Up: Tyler Boyd
After the Bengals took Ja’Marr Chase with the fifth overall pick, Tyler Boyd was somehow underestimated despite totaling over 1,000 yards in both 2018 and 2019. With Boyd, Chase, and Tee Higgins all in the starting lineup, it’s not crazy that Boyd didn’t get the same respect he once merited from people.
Well, Boyd had a really nice game in Chicago, finishing with seven catches for 73 yards. He hasn’t found the end zone yet but he was the star receiver for the Bengals on Sunday in spite of that.
It might be hard for Boyd to put up these kind of numbers on a week to week basis due to the talent at the position (I didn’t even mention Auden Tate, who has been really under utilized so far) but he’s definitely trending up after leading the team in receiving yards in Week 2.
Trending Down: Jonah Williams
The good news is that Jonah Williams has managed to stay healthy so far. The bad news is that he got roughed up quite a bit during Sunday’s loss to the Bears.
Williams had a nice Week 1 outing, as he made it through the season opener without allowing any pressures on Burrow. This week, however, he graded out under 65.0 per PFF and definitely got pushed around by the Bears defensive front.
It wasn’t a good performance from Williams but we all know he can be good because he showed that he could in Week 1. Unfortunately, he’ll have another tough task ahead of him in Week 3 with having to defend the Steelers defensive line.
Trending Up: Trey Hendrickson
There was a lot of buzz this offseason about why the Bengals felt the need to pay Trey Hendrickson a hefty contract when they could have gotten Carl Lawson for less. Lawson was a proven pass-rusher in Cincinnati but the team let him walk and spent more money on Hendrickson despite him having just one breakout season in four years with the Saints.
We might only be two games into the season, but Hendrickson has looked worthy of the big contract he received in the offseason. This game in particular showed how much of an impact Hendrickson can have on this roster, totaling three tackles, three QB hits, and 1.5 sacks.
The Bengals have been missing a premier pass-rush in recent years and Hendrickson gives them just that. His stock is on the rise after a top-notch performance vs. Chicago.
Trending Down: Running Backs Not Named Joe Mixon
We all knew that Joe Mixon would be the predominant running back for Cincinnati this year but he was the only one to get any carries during the game. Mixon took all 20 handoffs and finished the game with 69 yards and averaging 3.5 yards per carry.
Chris Evans and Samaje Perine were in on the action in the receiving game with Evans catching one pass for 14 yards and Perine getting one target but not pulling it in. These two not being used in the run game is a bit surprising and hopefully Cincinnati figures out a way to get them involved in the running game more.
Some other names to consider including on trending up were Logan Wilson and Ja’Marr Chase. Wilson had nearly a perfect game but failed to land on a fumble that could have swung the momentum entirely in Cincy’s favor. Chase had some drops, which is ultimately what kept him off the list, but he had a big touchdown in the fourth quarter that helped keep the game closer.