It's been two full weeks since the Cincinnati Bengals essentially lost Joe Burrow for the season. He's not technically out for the year but with a mid-December return being the earliest he could return and the team playing downright terrible in their first full game without him, the expectation of him jumping into the lineup to potentially lead this team on a playoff run is quite low.
Losing Burrow is already painful enough given how this team goes as Burrow goes, but to make matters worse, the AFC North isn't nearly as daunting this year as it has been in past years. The Raven defense is decimated with injuries (and just lost Nnamdi Madubuike for the season), the Steelers are fine but don't feel threatening, and the Browns are the Browns. This really could have been Cincinnati's year to win the division and host a playoff game for the first time since the 2022 season.
Bengals losing Joe Burrow in a down year for AFC North is beyond painful
Maybe the Ravens will rebound and be the Super Bowl contender that everyone expected them to be at the beginning of the season but they're dealing with so many injuries right now and just got blasted by the Chiefs. If there was any year for the Bengals to steal the division crown away from them, this would have been it.
Hey maybe the Bengals can rebound and make something of this season. Maybe the front office will throw something to the wall and see if it sticks by adding someone like Kirk Cousins or Russell Wilson who could get more out of Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins than Jake Browning can. If there was a time to try making a move like that, it's now when the Bengals are still in contention in the division, especially if Burrow can come back down the road and take over right before the playoffs.
It's beyond frustrating that in the year the Ravens are beatable and the biggest competition for the AFC North crown is the mediocre Steelers, of course the Bengals could be in the midst of a lost season thanks to an injury to their quarterback. For Bengals fans, this truly feels like an "Of course this happened" moment.