3 concerning takeaways from Bengals' Week 11 loss including Joe Burrow injury
The Cincinnati Bengals dropped their second straight game and are now 5-5 on the year. The biggest news of the night, however, came in the second quarter when Joe Burrow injured his wrist after throwing a touchdown.
There had been a video of Burrow with something on his wrist before the game that was taken down but resurfaced during the broadcast. Burrow was seen throwing on the sideline after getting injured and grimaced when trying to grip the football. He then jogged to the locker room and did not return to the game.
The @PrimeVideo broadcast showed this video of #Bengals QB Joe Burrow getting off the team bus with a brace/wrap around his right wrist and thumb.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 17, 2023
Burrow wasn't on the injury report. Now he's questionable with a right wrist injury. Jake Browning is in. pic.twitter.com/6ozbQ2SX1k
Let's start with Burrow in our post-game takeaways.
Burrow out, Browning in
As noted, Burrow was injured and did not re-enter the game. Jake Browning played the rest of the way and made some decent throws but he's not Burrow. This team is going to have a tough time winning games if Burrow isn't able to play, especially if the defense isn't able to stop the opposition.
Speaking of...
Rough night for the defense
The Bengals' defense does not look like the same fearful unit it has been over the past year and a half. They once again surrendered too many explosive plays in this loss, which felt familiar to Sunday's loss against the Texans. Paul Dehner Jr. noted that they allowed the Ravens to put up seven plays that went for 50+ yards and it's going to be hard to get the offense off the field when you make those kinds of mistakes.
Ravens 34, Bengals 13
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) November 17, 2023
That's now seven plays of 50-plus yards on the night for the Ravens. The #Bengals troubling defensive trend continues.
And you can call it a night here. Down to the locker room where there will be some important questions and answers awaiting.
If Burrow has to miss time, the Bengals defense is going to have to play better if this team wants any chance of making a playoff run. At this point though, it might be hard for them to get into that conversation, especially at 5-5 and with their quarterback injured.
Back to .500
The Bengals are 5-5 after sitting at 5-3 and looking like one of the best teams in the league. Sure, this loss can have an asterisk next to it since Burrow was out for most of it but a loss is a loss and the Bengals could not afford another loss coming into this game.
The fact of the matter is that the Bengals are now 5-5 on the year while the Ravens improved to 8-3. Cincinnati has just one win in the AFC and they're 0-3 in the division. It's going to be really hard for them to climb out of this hole, especially with their injured quarterback.
No matter what happens with Burrows’s thumb/wrist here’s the @Bengals reality: they’re now 5-5, last place in their division, 0-3 in divisional play and 1-5 in conference play. The playoffs seem like a REALLY big mountain to climb
— trey wingo (@wingoz) November 17, 2023
As sad as this might be to admit, the Bengals might not be making the playoffs this year. It feels like everything is working against them right now.
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