You'll see a lot of stats flying around about the Cincinnati Bengals' woes on offense during their current run of two straight losses. Yes, the Bengals have been outscored 76-13 across Weeks 3 and 4, but it feels even worse than that.
Perhaps that's because the offensive unit producing only 13 points is right on par with how many they've let up. In other words, they've found the end zone only once, and let Minnesota Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers get there twice in Week 3 on a pick-six and scoop and score.
There's little elsewhere for Cincinnati's high-octane offense to go but up from here. Entering Week 5's home duel with the Detroit Lions, we could very well see quarterback Jake Browning rally back thanks to favorable matchups for stud wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Bengals passing attack could finally flourish vs. depleted Lions secondary
Cam Taylor-Britt's latest benching is big news in Cincinnati, but the Bengals' Week 5 opponent has major issues in their own secondary.
Lions cornerback DJ Reed went on injured reserve earlier this week, and Detroit is even worse off on the back end of its defense in the wake of the latest injury report.
Khalil Dorsey is still working through the concussion protocol and has an ailing wrist, so he's out for the visitors. That's another corner down. Terrion Arnold practiced fully the past two days, yet he was dealing with a shoulder issue before then.
Beyond the CB corps in Detroit, reigning first-team All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph is questionable with a knee injury as well. Strong chance he'll be hampered even if he is a go for Week 5. Joseph's only practice leading up to the game came Friday and was in limited fashion.
Talk about an intriguing situation for Chase and Higgins to exploit. The problem is, Browning has to have the requisite blocking and field-vision wherewithal to distribute the ball to Cincinnati's dynamic duo.
Ja'Marr Chase had a step or more of separation on 40% of his routes vs Denver (13 of 32 routes). He only saw 4 targets on those open routes.
— Andrew Russell (@Andrew_Russell7) October 1, 2025
6 gotta get him the ball when he's open in space.
When the o-line can't run block to make the offense more balanced, though, a one-dimensional Browning-led passing attack tends to look something like this:
The rate at which each offense takes a 1st & 10 and earns a new set of downs (or scores)
— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) September 30, 2025
Dolphins in the top 10 here?? pic.twitter.com/zVJZQhOJpr
It should help Browning, Chase and Higgins that the Lions are so banged up in their defensive backfield in any event. They're also not facing a pass rush quite as formidable as what the Vikings and Broncos rolled out the past couple weeks, nor is Cincinnati on the road this time around.
All those factors, plus the paper-thin depth at cornerback and safety for Detroit, bode well for the Bengals to rally back and at least make Week 5 somewhat competitive.
Us fans aren't asking for the moon, or — let's be honest! — even realistically expecting a win here. Just a little bit of competence and positive momentum to build on. Browning looks like a QB with shattered confidence who needs to get out of his own head. Chase and Higgins are too great at what they do to not produce.