The Cincinnati Bengals are in a world of hurt. Their 48-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 3 was the worst margin in franchise history, and way too much was put on the shoulders of new starting quarterback Jake Browning.
Not that Browning really helped himself by throwing two interceptions, including a back-breaking pick-six to Isaiah Rodgers. At the same time, Zac Taylor and the Bengals staff did very little to help Browning out.
Bengals fans shouldn't be as concerned about how Browning will fare in the passing game going forward. He at least has Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to lean on as premier weapons. The most disconcerting issue besetting Cincinnati is the other dimension of its offense.
No solution in sight for Chase Brown and Bengals' anemic running game
Ahead of Sunday's clash in Minnesota, I wrote about how Taylor needed to diversify the Bengals' rushing attack, or make some kind of adjustments to the game plan to keep the Vikings' defense more honest. Otherwise, a disaster scenario was very much in play.
Welp. Taylor didn't make any meaningful tweaks to the ground game, and we all saw the ugly results play out in real time.
Chase Brown is one of two running backs in the NFL who's averaging negative yards before contact per rush. Run blocking that poor can't exactly be fixed overnight. That means the blame falls on rookie Dylan Fairchild, vet center Ted Karras, and new right guard Dalton Risner more than anyone else.
Just take a glimpse at this data for a second. It's not dissimilar to staring into the sun.
The Bengals field the worst trio of interior run blockers by a country mile. Using run block grades among the positions, here's the ranks:
— Andrew Russell (@Andrew_Russell7) September 22, 2025
Risner: 61st of 67 OGs
Karras: 30th of 33 Cs
Fairchild: 60th of 67 OGs
Yup my irises are on fire. We're talking about a full-blown inability to block a soul on a snap to snap basis from the interior offensive line.
It might not be out of pocket to try rookie fifth-round Jalen Rivers at right guard, especially given that Risner is banged up with a calf injury after Week 3. Risner was signed very late and still must be digesting the playbook. Doesn't help to have Karras and Fairchild playing like they are on the inside, either.
Dating back to the Joe Mixon days earlier in Taylor's tenure, the Bengals have struggled to establish the run in any way, shape, or form.
A messy chart I threw together of various team rushing efficiency metrics under Zac Taylor.
— Taylor (@_TaylorCornell) September 22, 2025
Make of it what you will https://t.co/lDwcdNvwzu pic.twitter.com/DD02BuZ1Jz
SI's Mike Santagata cut together all carries by Bengals running backs from Week 3. It's ghastly to behold. Taylor spoke after Sunday's defeat about how important it is for the Bengals to correct this glaring weakness in swift fashion, via the team's official website:
"We've got to really identify where we're going to be in the run game, what we're going to hang our hat on, who we're going to run behind. I mean, there's a lot of that going on that we gotta really sort out and identify problems and be able to correct them, on the run and during the course of the week."
Again, I don't see a world where there's a quick fix to any of this. Unless you can have a league-wide fantasy/expansion-style draft and poach the best interior run blockers in the sport from other teams, there's nobody in that Cincinnati locker room right now who presents a promising prospective solution.
Benching Karras doesn't feel like the answer, yet the Bengals have a couple promising young centers behind him in Matt Lee and Seth McLaughlin. They're totally unproven in the NFL, yes, and no, they probably can't handle protection duties or calls at the line of scrimmage as well as Karras.
You can see how dire the situation is. Maybe plugging Lee or McLaughlin in and sliding Karras to right guard is a potential fix. Getting some new bodies and fresh faces in the mix could help the cause.
Grasping at straws here. Chase Brown was supposed to be in for a breakout 2025 campaign. Instead, he's amassed a grand total of 93 yards on 47 carries. For a tailback that talented, that's almost impossible.
Taylor has proven capable of adjusting on the fly in the wake of Joe Burrow's injuries before, such as he did with Browning in 2023 en route to a 4-3 record. It's going to take some serious magic from Taylor and the offensive coaches to pull the Bengals out of this rut, reverse this disturbing trend of failure, and salvage a decent season despite a 2-1 start.