History is not on Bengals' side after miserable 0-3 start

In Week 3, the Cincinnati Bengals appeared to have the perfect matchup in order to get into the win column. Going up against a rookie quarterback on Monday Night Football would typically be a recipe for success.

However, the Bengals faltered against Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders, allowing the first-year pro to have such a monstrous performance that he waltzed right into the NFL history books. Forget the missed defensive pass interference late in the fourth quarter, Cincinnati's defense was already reeling after what Daniels did to them.

Now sitting at 0-3, the Bengals have to answer some serious questions.

It's true, this team is talented enough to not be without a win after three weeks. But, here we are. This is their reality and Zac Taylor has got to figure things out in a hurry, or else.

Here's a little history lesson for Bengals fans wanting to know their chances of a postseason berth after beginning the year in such a manner.

Since 1990, there have been 160 teams to start a season with a record of 0-3. Only four of them have gone on to make the playoffs.

Usually, the phrase "press the panic button" isn't necessarily a logical reaction to a team's performance after such a short amount of time. For a three-game sample size, though, the Bengals are about as close as you could get to panicking.

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Sure, just days ago the Bengals fought the Kansas City Chiefs to the bitter end in an exciting rivalry game. But, other than putting up a fight against the reigning Super Bowl champions, Cincinnati has taken losses from the likes of the New England Patriots and these Commanders.

In a nutshell, that's ... not good.

The Bengals have little time to correct their glaring weakness

Over the first four weeks, the Bengals' defense has not been good enough, period. They have gone from allowing 290 yards to Jacoby Brissett and the Patriots to now watching Daniels and the Commanders put up over 430 yards on them.

Each week, the Bengals have given up more and more points, allowing 16 in Week 1, 26 in Week 2 and now a whopping 38 in Week 3.

On the season, Cincinnati's turnover differential sits squarely at zero, with just three takeaways in as many games and the offense giving it away three times as well.

The Bengals own the league's seventh-worst rush defense and seventh-worst scoring defense, overall through Week 3. If you want to know the real issue, it lies on that side of the ball where the Bengals have only five sacks in three games. By contrast, the Minnesota Vikings lead the league with 16.

Cincy has no other option but to correct things in a hurry, because if they were to somehow drop next week's game against the Carolina Panthers, the writing would be on the wall. Only the 1992 Chargers have made the postseason after starting 0-4.