The Cincinnati Bengals are coming off a week one win against their in-state rival, the Cleveland Browns. The defense is receiving considerable praise for its performance in that matchup. However, with the Jacksonville Jaguars heading into town on Sunday, they are facing a running back who had a monster game in Week 1.
The Jaguars are coming into town off a dominating win against the Carolina Panthers. Their rushing attack, led by Travis Etienne, fueled their victory.
Heading into Week 2, if the Bengals’ defense is not ready, Etienne could embarrass the defense, thereby relinquishing all of the goodwill they obtained against their division rival.
Liam Coen reshaped Jaguars' offensive scheme
Jacksonville hired head coach Liam Coen this offseason. With the new coach comes a new offensive scheme, the inside zone rushing attack, with Coen serving as the offensive coordinator. And after just one week, Coen and Etienne have put the rest of the league on notice.
Etienne, who is now their undisputed bell cow, shredded Carolina's defense with 16 carries for 143 yards, for an average of 8.9 yards per carry. He also had a long of 71 yards.
71 yards for Travis Etienne! 💨
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 7, 2025
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/RXvHyZn4it
From question mark to unquestioned RB1
The former Clemson running back has been through a lot since being drafted in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft. He's dealt with injuries, coaching changes, and even a temporary switch from running back to wide receiver under his former regime.
Coming into this season, there were still questions about whether he would be the team’s RB1. He put those questions to rest after a dominating Week 1 performance. So much so, that he immediately made Bigsby, once seen as a potential replacement, expendable.
This week, the Jags made headlines by making a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. On Monday, NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that the Jacksonville Jaguars were trading running back Tank Bigsby to Philly for two Day 3 draft picks.
Bigsby was the number two running back behind Etienne Jr. Now, Bigsby is expected to be Saquon Barkley's backup, along with returning kicks in Philly.
Side note: The Philadelphia Eagles have made several moves recently. Two of those include trades with the Jaguars. One trade featured former Bengals offensive lineman Fred Johnson.
As Adam Schefter pointed out on Stugotz and Company, the Eagles and Jaguars were working on a Bigsby trade for a couple of weeks. Schefter said that Philadelphia and Jacksonville included Bigsby in their initial trade talks that sent Johnson to the Eagles, but "Jacksonville decided not to part ways with Tank Bigsby at that point," and "Jacksonville held off on the deal, was not ready to deal Tank Bigsby at that point. They wanted to see what they had in Travis Etienne and Bhayshul Tuten, their rookie running back."
The Jaguars must have loved whatever they saw from Etienne and Tuten because Bigsby was an Eagle the next day. Tuten will take over the backup role and kickoff return duties vacated by Bigsby's departure.
Can the Bengals contain Travis Etienne?
But the spotlight is on Etienne. The Bengals must have a suitable game plan in place for him so they can back up their 2.0 yards per carry performance they had against a formidable Cleveland Browns rushing attack. Also, Cincinnati's ability to prevent explosive plays on the ground will be critical to its success against the Jaguars.
The Bengals will rely heavily, pun intended, on free agent addition T.J. Slaton and recent practice squad call-up Mike Pennel to help anchor the middle of Cincinnati's defense and mitigate Jacksonville's inside rushing attack.
If the Bengals' defensive tackles can clog the middle of the line, that should free Trey Hendrickson, Shemar Stewart, and Myles Murphy to pin their ears back and provide a much-needed pass rush against Trevor Lawrence.
Hopefully, the Bengals have a better plan in place to stop Etienne and will execute it more effectively than the Carolina Panthers did. And they must if they are going to slow down Jacksonville's newfound explosive offense.
If Al Golden and the defense are ill-prepared for Etienne and Coen’s offense, it could be a long and challenging day for Cincinnati's defense. And then we will be right back to excoriating the defensive unit yet again.