Week 6 “What defines a Bengal is a hungry, physical, and accountable teammate”
After a crushing loss to Green Bay the week before, a lot of national media were saying that Cincinnati was a house of cards. Stating that they hadn’t played anyone of serious contention and their wins all seems like close nail biters. Well Cincinnati went to Detroit against an 0-5 frisky Lions team, and the Bengals beat up on them like an older bigger brother. Cincinnati put the whole NFL landscape on notice that they are real, where good teams will have a real test and the bad teams are going to struggle. They played their most complete game to date this season, and there is plenty of meat left on the bone. The constant that shows up each week is the Bengals are an actual team. The group is there to help the other guy out and work towards being the best team they possibly can be.
The Bengals defense looked dominant against a beat up and injured Lion’s offense. Jared Goff was missing receivers who were creating little to no separation all game. The Lions “dynamic” running backs struggled to produce anything with only 36 rushing yards with more than half coming in garbage time. Cincinnati’s starting defense only allowed 150 yards, the Lions gained 78 yards on the 2nd unit. Every offseason move this team made on the Defensive side of the ball showed up. Trey Hendrickson made the media’s should have been Bengals draft pick Penei Sewell look lost. Logan Wilson is starting to form into a franchise building block. And the Bengals secondary is starting to make a case to have 3 pro bowlers. The Cincinnati defense has proved that they are legit and a top 10 unit this year. They have a big test this coming Sunday with Baltimore, but I am excited to see where they can go.
Despite the stellar outcome of the game, the dominant Joe Burrow lead offense only showed up for one half. In the first half the Cincinnati offense was stuttering. The Bengals left roughly 14 points in the first half alone. They had some dumb penalties and miscommunication that led to four 3 and outs after starting the game with a touchdown. The moral of the story is this game could have been out of reach at halftime. Luckily the Bengals adjusted at halftime and scored on every possession in the second half. The main moment in the game was when Joe Mixon caught a pass from Joe Burrow and ran it for 40 yards. It wasn’t the 40-yard run that Mixon had but the massive block Ja’Marr Chase had to allow Mixon to get into the endzone. Yes, the block was the most important part of the game. It showed to all the guys on this team that they need to play their best for each other and work together. That block could be the defining moment for this team. I know that seems ridiculous, but it could change the team's attitude for their next game against Baltimore. Blocks like Chase will be the reason the Bengals beat the likes of Baltimore. If every guy plays a selfless brand of football this team can beat any team in the NFL and I don’t think that’s a hot take. If this offense plays a full game they can put up 50 points, the question is when will it happen.
“What defines a Bengal is a hungry, physical, and accountable teammate” – Joe Mixon. If all 22 starters play that way, they will go into Baltimore and win. The Bengals will have their hands full; if they can pull it off a win puts them atop the division and the AFC. Yes, if your Cincinnati Bengals win on Sunday they will sit atop the AFC and would be slated to have a first round bye.
