Bengals fans need to see this stat regarding 0-2 start

By now Cincinnati Bengals fans are well aware that the team is 0-2 and this is now the second straight year that they've sat at 0-2 through the first two games of the regular season.

Despite starting 0-2 last year, the Bengals rebounded beautifully, winning the AFC North and making it all the way to the AFC Championship Game. Per Adam Schefter, that 2022 Bengals team is actually the only team to make it to the playoffs since the NFL expanded from six playoff teams to seven playoff teams in 2020.

It's not a huge sample size, as we only have three years to go off of for this particular statistic but this is an interesting stat and can be looked at in a good and in a bad way.

2022 Bengals are the only team to rebound from 0-2 start to make playoffs

The good news for Bengals fans is that the only team that has bounced back after an 0-2 start and made the postseason is last year's Bengals team. A lot of players from that team are still in Cincinnati and know what it'll take to complete the comeback.

The bad news is that the 2022 Bengals being the only team to accomplish this means that it's no picnic. Also, both of their losses have come against AFC North opponents so not only are they 0-2 overall but they're 0-2 in the division just like that. They went 3-3 in the division last year, however, and still managed to win the AFC North.

Another reason this 0-2 start is worrisome is that Joe Burrow tweaked his calf in Sunday's loss. He hasn't looked 100% in the two games so far this season and now he might be limited moving forward with that nagging injury.

The defense has also looked sluggish through the first two games, especially in Sunday's loss to the Ravens. According to Andrew Russell on X, they've played the fifth-most snaps and have the second-worst open target completion in coverage. To put it into perspective, last year they had played the 11th-fewest snaps and had the second-best open target completion in coverage in their 0-2 start so it truly was just on the offense for that slow start.

Both sides of the ball are struggling this time around and that's worrisome. If they don't win against the Rams on Monday night, things could spiral out of control quickly.

Whether you look at this stat and are optimistic or pessimistic, one thing is for sure -- The Cincinnati Bengals have to get things figured out quickly.