Week 8 “Got out-coached, got out-played today” -Taylor

If the Bengals want to be taken seriously they need to change their mentality.  Congrats you beat Baltimore, but you then show up to MetLife and lose to Mike White.  You can call yourself the fab 5, or tell the team to extend Jessie Bates.  But if you play like this, maybe the focus should stay on football.  We are just shy of halfway through the season and if they want to make it to the playoffs this season they need to focus up and stop losing easy games.  The Jets game is the second insufferable loss this team has had this season.  If they want to be legit these are the types of games that can't happen.

The Bengals offense continued their trend and started the game lethargically.  It almost seems that the 15 play game script that every team starts with, they treat as a warmup.  The Bengals in 8 games have yet to score on their first drive.  On average it takes the Bengals 3 drives and 17 plays to even put points on the board.  I understand the mentality of trying to not make a mistake early but at a certain point you are crippling your team.  If the Bengals want to be taken seriously they need to change the game script.  Next week they will be facing a run-happy Cleveland team, who like to get ahead and stay ahead.  If the offense leaves the Bengals defense on the field for an extra 30 snaps like the Jets game I can guarantee they will lose.  For this offense to reach its full potential things can’t be so predetermined, they have 3 amazing wide receivers and an All Pro Runningback.  I would love this offense to start the game with a creative style, not a creative plan.  To fully unlock this offense the Bengals will need to ditch the training wheels. The top 5 offensive plays this season all come with the clock running out or with a broken play.  Maybe it's time to allow this team to have some fun and play a game, like it is, a game.  

Well the Bengals fully embraced Halloween, they just dressed up as the 2020 Bengals.  With 15 missed tackles the Bengals defense looked porous and confused.  The linebackers and safeties were the primary culprits, over 80% of Mike White’s passes happened in the middle of the field.  If Jessie Bates wants to talk about being the highest paid safety in the league, he might want to play like it.  Jessie Bates was one of the main issues this game with 3 of the 15 missed tackles being assigned to him.  Bates was also responsible for 2 of the TD scored against the Bengals.  I understand the importance of Bates to this defense, but when a player complains about their contract it never goes well for their play on the field.  I hope that things change for him and the Bengals pay him at the end of the season.  But at this current pace I wouldn't even pay Bates 8 million a year.  As an outspoken leader he has to lead this team by example.  In the three losses this season the Bengals averaged 17% on missed tackles by opportunity.  In their wins they have averaged 11% on missed tackle opportunities.  I think while watching the Bengals this season you will know the outcome of the game on how the defense tackles.  With a physical Browns team coming to town it could be a long game if the Bengals defense has a repeat performance.  

Sunday’s performance was awful to watch, but hopefully was a learning opportunity for a very young team.  There were some good things that came out of this loss.  The main thing I noticed was a joint captains press conference after the game.  Boyd, Mixon, and Bates talked together; they wanted to show the media and the fans that they are united.  From the sounds of it this loss won't derail this team, but hopefully unite them.  As an emotional fan it's easy to act like the sky is falling when you lose to the Jets backup quarterback.  Maybe this loss is exactly what this team needed.  The Bengals still sit at 5-3, with a playoff spot, and a ½ game behind the Ravens.  They are still 2-0 in the division and have an opportunity to be 6-3 at the bye with a 3-0 record in the division.  This team is going to be alright, we just need to have a larger outlook for this season instead of looking at one week.