How Bengals' foundation failed Jake Browning after two lifeless losses

All offseason, the Cincinnati Bengals were faced with two major questions. Could the defense, under new coordinator Al Golden, get off the field enough to support one of the best offenses in the league, and could head coach Zac Taylor avoid the slow starts that he and the team have become known for?

Through two weeks of this season, it seemed that the Bengals were answering these questions. The defense, while not looking like a top unit in the league, was making some timely stops and generating some turnovers. The team also got off to a 2-0 start, a feat that had never been achieved in the Zac Taylor era.

This was before the devastating news that Joe Burrow would miss a minimum of three months with a turf toe injury. Certainly a blow to Bengals fans everywhere. We all know how important Burrow is to the team's success. Even still, some fans were optimistic that the Bengals could win enough games to stay relevant with backup QB Jake Browning and set up a late-season return for Burrow with an eye for the playoffs.

After all, Browning showed himself as a competent backup quarterback in 2023 when he had to start the final seven games of that season.

Over those seven games Browning completed 70.4% of his passes for 1,936 yards, 12 TDs, and 7 INTs, leading the team to a 4-3 record. These might not be all world numbers, but they gave Bengals fans hope that Browning could step in and keep the team afloat. The past two games have been about as bad as possible for the Bengals so the question must be asked: How did we get here?

How bad has the Bengals' decline been?

The past two games have shown that this Bengals team might have lost more than just one of the premier players in the NFL in Joe Burrow; they might have lost their heart and soul.

Russ Heltman of Sports Illustrated covered the miserable two losses the Bengals have suffered in weeks 3 and 4, explaining that the Bengals' -63 point differential over these two losses is tied with the worst two-game point differential in team history.

According to ESPN's Ben Baby, the Browning-led Bengals gained only 21 yards on 18 offensive plays on 5 drives from the first to the third quarter in Monday night's loss. This article is not meant to blame Browning for the team's struggles. These two losses have clearly shown that there are much bigger issues at play than just the quarterback. One stat that clearly shows this is that the Bengals had more first-half penalties than first downs on Monday.

This is about more than any one player; these kinds of losses are on the team as a whole and the coaching staff. I have been a defender of Zac Taylor throughout his time in Cincinnati. I even wrote an article for StripeHype naming him an underrated head coach in the NFL. These kinds of performances, however, are unacceptable and reflect poorly on him and his whole staff.

What's changed since 2023 to cause Jake Browning's sharp drop-off?

The Bengals' core pieces, especially offensively from 2023, are still around, which is part of what makes the team's current form so disappointing.

Wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins still headline the skill positions. Core linemen like Orlando Brown Jr. and Ted Karras are still on the team as well. The offensive line as a whole looks better on paper in 2025 than it did in 2023, with Dylan Fairchild, Jalen Rivers, and Amarius Mims replacing Cordell Volson, Alex Cappa, and Jonah Williams, respectively. With the core of the roster mostly the same, the question has to be asked: What has happened in Cincinnati since 2023?

I believe the answer lies in the identity of this football team. When Zac Taylor took over in 2019, he helped change the culture around the Bengals. This culture shift, as well as the infusion of talent with guys like Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins, made Cincinnati a place that people wanted to play.

While Taylor did a great job setting a culture, I'm not sure he was ever able to create a true identity for the team on the field. Early on in the Taylor/Burrow era, that identity was mostly set by players like Joe Mixon, Jessie Bates, DJ Reader, Tyler Boyd, Mike Hilton, and Burrow himself. Those players responded to the toughness consistently shown by Burrow and matched it with a rugged brand of football.

Think back to the 2021 AFC Divisional Round game, where Burrow was sacked nine times, yet kept getting up, and the team kept matching his intensity. That 2021 team that went to the Super Bowl had a clear never-say-die identity.

The problem became that the identity of the team was so tied to these players, and the Bengals weren't able to maintain them all.

First, Bates left after the 2022 season, then Reader and Boyd after 2023. Overall, Burrow is the only one on the current roster of the 6 players I mentioned as being a core part of the identity of the 2021 team. We could argue about whether or not the Bengals should have retained certain players or not but that's not the point. The NFL is a business. Players come and go due to age, salary cap restrictions, or injuries. The point is that when your identity is solely set by players, it becomes harder and harder to maintain over the years as players leave.

I believe that the identity of a team must come from the head coach, and as good a culture as Zac Taylor has built in the locker room, I'm not sure I see the rugged identity coming through on the field.

Take a look at the Bengals' upcoming Week 5 opponent, the Detroit Lions. Like the Bengals, Detroit has maintained a core group of players centered around Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Penei Sewell. Also, much like the Bengals, the Lions have lost key players and personnel over the years, including 2 starting offensive linemen this year in Frank Ragnow and Kevin Zeitler and both of their top coordinators in Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn.

Even still, the Lions play the same, tough-nosed brand of football that their head coach, Dan Campbell, has preached from the beginning. If Taylor can't show that he can establish a clear, on-field identity that comes from him and the coaching staff, I think the Bengals will have to at least consider their future at head coach.

Where do they go from here?

This is the question on the minds of Bengals fans everywhere. I, for one, have not completely given up on the 2025 Bengals just yet. My optimism has certainly faded from the beginning of the season, but I do believe two things are true.

One is that Joe Burrow is the kind of guy who will attack his rehab intensely and do everything he can to have a chance to get back on the field. I also believe that when he is on the field, the Bengals at least have a chance to beat anyone. Whether or not the team can stay alive long enough to give him a chance at returning is feeling like more and more of a long shot with each week. That being said, the talent on this offense is too good for it to continue to be this inept going forward.

Another factor is that the AFC North looks weaker than expected this year. Check out fellow StripeHype contributor Glenn Adams' Week 4 power rankings article that highlights the struggles of other AFC North teams.

If Cincinnati can't turn things around and show some kind of heart for the rest of the season, I think the organization will have to give serious consideration to more drastic changes. This includes a potential change at head coach and even a Trey Hendrickson trade.

While the Bengals have always been patient as an organization, both with players and coaches, they have made large investments in Joe Burrow with the expectation of being a contending football team. This injury to Burrow shows just how much he covers up with his stellar play and might force the organization to re-evaluate the state of the roster and staff going forward.

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