Bengals Keys to Victory with Star WR’s Return
After two weeks in the 2024-2025 NFL season, the Cincinnati Bengals are still looking for their first win. A disappointing Week One performance riddled with turnovers caused the Bengals to lose their first game of the year at home versus the New England Patriots. In Week Two, the Bengals battled hard against the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs but fell short due to a game-winning field goal by Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker. This week, the Bengals will face the Washington Commanders led by rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels on Monday Night Football who sit at one win and one loss after their two games versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Giants.
Luckily for the Bengals, wide receiver Tee Higgins is set to return to the lineup this Monday having missed the first two contests of the season due to a hamstring injury. This will take the load off of Andrei Iosivas and Mike Gesicki who stepped up tremendously last week versus the Chiefs in the absence of Higgins. Iosivas hauled in two timely touchdowns for the Bengals last week, while Gesicki made seven catches for 91 total yards. The return of Higgins offers the Bengals another real scoring threat, as Higgins has a very respectable 24 career touchdowns in 53 games started in his career. At the very least, the threat of Higgins should attract the attention of the Commanders’ defense and open up more opportunities for fellow receiver Ja’Marr Chase who has been off to quite a slow start in 2024. However, what will benefit Joe Burrow and the Bengals the most, is great blocking from the offensive line.
After two games, the Bengals rank 30th in rushing yards per game, averaging only 72 yards on the ground per contest. This will need to change in order for the Bengals to truly establish a reliable two-way attack. Stopping the Commanders’ running game will also be very important as the trio of Jayden Daniels, Brian Robinson Jr., and Austin Ekeler has proven to be effective so far this year. These three have brought the Commanders to fifth in the league in rushing, averaging 176.5 rushing yards per game. In particular, these two factors will be key for the Bengals to pick up their first win of the season at home on Monday night but the return of injured wide receiver Tee Higgins will only improve their offensive production as the season goes on.
