After the Bengals lost another close game, Joe Burrow admitted that this is the most frustrating season of his NFL career.
When asked why, the quarterback replied, “Self-explanatory.”
It’s clear why.
Burrow has been playing great football, making incredible throws on the run and scrambling for first downs, all while taking big hits from pass rushers due to poor offensive line protection.
But despite his strong play, the Bengals keep losing close games. They are 4-7 going into their bye week and at risk of missing the playoffs for the second year in a row. To have a shot at the postseason, they would likely need to win all of their remaining six games.
Even though Burrow is still recovering from surgery on his throwing hand, he leads the NFL with 274 completions, 3,028 passing yards, and 27 touchdowns.
Burrow is now tied with Matt Ryan (2018) as the only quarterbacks to lose back-to-back games while throwing for at least 350 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.
Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase is also having a standout season, leading the NFL with 1,056 receiving yards, 481 yards after the catch, and 12 touchdowns. On defense, edge rusher Trey Hendrickson has 11 1/2 sacks, the most in the league.
However, the Bengals have been hurt by turnovers, an inconsistent secondary, injuries that have shuffled their offensive and defensive lines, and a kicker who’s been struggling. Their rushing game is the sixth-worst in the NFL.
Six of the Bengals’ seven losses have been by one score. Five of those were by six points or fewer. They lost by just one point to the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and by one point in both games to AFC North rival Baltimore.
Cincinnati lost to Kansas City on a 51-yard field goal as time expired. They lost by three to Washington, even though Burrow threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns.
They also lost to the Ravens 41-38 in overtime after kicker Evan McPherson missed a potential game-winning 53-yard field goal.
In their second loss to the Ravens, Lamar Jackson threw three fourth-quarter touchdown passes. The Bengals scored with 38 seconds left, but their 2-point conversion attempt to win the game failed.
Last Sunday night, McPherson missed two field goals in the second half that could have given the Bengals the lead, and they ended up losing to the Chargers 34-27.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said, “They just made one more play than we did. That’s kind of been the story of our season so far. By no stretch is our season over with. We have a chance to use a bye to kind of get back and get into a groove here in the last part of the season.”
Injuries have also been an issue. Rookie Amarius Mims had to start when right tackle Trent Brown was hurt in Week 3. Then left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. also got injured with knee and fibula problems.
Defensively, interior linemen B.J. Hill and Sheldon Rankins have been sidelined by injuries and illness. Cornerback DJ Turner II was placed on injured reserve after breaking his clavicle in the recent game.
The Bengals’ four wins have all come against teams with losing records. Taylor struggles to explain why they can’t seem to close out games against better teams.
“I can’t. I wish I could,” he said. “It’s sick, the way that these games are ending and the way that we come off the field every week.”
The bye week will be a relief for the Bengals.
“Just gives us a chance to be healthy,” Taylor said. “There’s not a lot of wholesale changes we need to make. Every game we lose comes down to the last play of the game. We’ve just got to find a way to win these and generate some momentum for ourselves.”
Cincinnati still has to play the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers (8-2) twice, along with the Dallas Cowboys (3-7), Tennessee Titans (2-8), Cleveland Browns (2-8), and Denver Broncos (6-5).
