Heading into the bye week, the Cincinnati Bengals have won three out of their last four games. However, their offense still struggles for extended periods.
In Sunday’s 17-13 victory over Seattle, the Bengals opened the game with back-to-back touchdowns before flopping the rest of the way. Cincy’s next nine possessions went: punt, punt, interception, punt, punt, 3-and-field goal (following an interception), punt, punt, kneel. Joe Burrow and Co. generated a grand total of five first downs on those drives and never more than one a possession.
In 2023, the Bengals recorded their fourth game with less than 20 points scored, winning 2 and losing 2 of those games. This was a slight increase from 2022, when they only had three games scoring fewer than 20 points, all of which they lost.
Beyond Ja'Marr Chase, the rest of the offense was in a malaise. Chase led the Bengals with 80 yards on six catches (13 targets). The rest of the skill players netted 147 total yards.
On Monday, offensive coordinator Brian Callahan took issue with the performance.
“There needs to be more production on offense, in general, for guys not named Ja’Marr Chase.” Callahan said, via Mike Petraglia of CLSN Media. “End of the day, we’re not scoring enough. We’re not producing enough.”
The run game was once again hindered on Sunday, only producing 3.1 yards per carry. Additionally, Burrow missed numerous throws. Despite his calf injury not appearing to limit him currently, his performance has been unusually rough.
In his return after missing Week 5 with a rib injury, Tee Higgins caught just two passes for 20 yards on four targets.
Despite the early-season struggles for Cincy’s offense, the Bengals sit at 3-3 in the thick of the AFC playoff hunt. If Burrow and others can get back up to speed following the bye, things will look much brighter in Cincinnati in the coming months.
“We have to be better than we’ve been,” Callahan added. “And I think we will be. But sometimes there’s a time and a place to tell the truth. And that’s the truth at this point.”
