Bengals Sink to the Challenge

Ten Things that address playing, coaching and a missing need for desperation

Jake Browning was OK. He wasn’t why the Bengals took a demoralizing L Sunday, in that Edgar Allan Poe Show down on the riverfront. Problem is, Browning’s OK-ness is not something that should encourage you, BengalFan.

If Browning had played like a backup QB making his first NFL start against a pretty good Steelers defense with its share of game-wreckers, OK. You could rationalize that, and hope the kid plays better next week.

It wasn’t like that. Browning was not the proverbial deer, stalking headlights. He didn’t cut and run at the first sign of a pass rush. In fact, there were a couple times he should have cut and run. The one egregious throw he made was deep in Steelers territory, intended for Ja’Marr Chase, picked off by Pittsburgh’s Trent Thompson. But that was one throw, out of the 26 Browning let fly.

Browning’s game didn’t remind anyone of football in August. That’s good until you realize the bigger issues were elsewhere, where the talent was far more prevalent. Or should have been.