7 extremely discouraging stats from Bengals Week 1 loss to Patriots

6 pass attempts beyond 10 yards

Burrow attempted zero passes beyond 30 yards. Only six of his 29 attempts went beyond 10 yards. Before, we would quickly blame a poor offensive line performance. Thistime, it was not on the offensive line, according to Next Gen Stats. 

At one point, 80% of Burrow’s passes were within five yards of the line of scrimmage, according to Ben Baby.

During the game, the broadcast announcers focused on Burrow flexing his wrist and looking uncomfortable. They also noted that he was throwing on the sidelines with a glove on. Burrow intermittingly throwing with a glove is something we saw during training camp.

The hope is that the Patriots and new defensive-minded head coach Jerod Mayo had the perfect scheme to limit Cincinnati’s offense to throws downfield. An alternative theory is that Burrow is still not completely confident in his wrist, which would be more concerning. 

0-1, again

The most critical stat from the game against New England is that the Bengals are now 0-1 for the third straight season. Cincinnati must dig themselves out of a hole already. And if you're thinking about the larger AFC picture, the Bengals are immediately a game behind the Chiefs, who they play next weekend.

Of course the Bengals are used to this situation. They are 1-10 in their first two games of the season under Zac Taylor. They still made it to two consecutive AFC Championship games and a Super Bowl. However, if they do not improve upon these critical stats, the likelihood they will compete for another Super Bowl appearance this year feels slim.