The Cincinnati Bengals had a week off from game action following their 34-27 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 11. Hopefully they used that week to reflect, reset and address some issues prior to the final stretch of the season. Speaking of issues, here's a look at three problems that the Bengals must fix before they take the field again in Week 13 against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers.
Kicking
This isn't necessarily a team issue, but more an individual one. Basically, Evan McPherson needs to get his stuff together. McPherson has had his struggles all season, and those struggles came to a head in against the Chargers in Week 11 on Sunday Night Football. In the fourth quarter of the contest, McPherson missed not one, but two, go-head field goal attempts that could have potentially helped Cincinnati secure a victory.
On the season as a whole, McPherson has converted only 71.4 percent of his field goal attempts (15 of 21), which represents a career low. In fact, he's never posted a conversion rate below 82 percent over the course of a campaign prior to this season. The Bengals aren't making a change at the position during the season, so McPherson simply needs to be better.
Quarterback protection
Stop me if you've heard this before, but the Bengals need to do a better job of protecting franchise quarterback Joe Burrow. In Week 11, the Chargers recorded three sacks and a whopping 14 quarterbacks hits on Burrow. which is simply too much. For comparison's sake, the Bengals mustered just two sacks and six QB hits in the same game.
Despite the consistent contact, Burrow still managed to throw for 356 yards and three touchdowns against the Chargers. Imagine what he could do with just a bit more time to operate. Keeping him protected needs to be a priority against the Steelers, and beyond.
Generating pressure
Not only have the Bengals struggled to prevent other teams from generating pressure on Burrow, they've also struggled to generate pressure on opposing quarterbacks. As a team, they have the fourth-fewest amount of total sacks in the league this season with 19. The only teams with fewer sacks are the Falcons, Panthers and Dolphins.
Trey Hendrickson has been having a stellar season in the sack department, as he's leading the league with 11.5. But outside of him, the team simply hasn't done a good enough job of putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and they need to be better.
The skeptics out there might say that it's too late for the Bengals to realistically fix any of these issues with the roster as currently constructed, but hey, you never know.