Cincinnati Bengals Week One Struggles, Their Chances of Bouncing Back in Week Two

The Cincinnati Bengals left fans with a lot to be desired after their lackluster performance in the season opener. Being upset by the New England Patriots, losing by a final score of 16-10, the Bengals beat themselves in this matchup. The Bengals lost two fumbles which equaled their season total from last year, including one at the two-yard line by Tanner Hudson who was on his way to the end zone. These two plays cost the team ten points, as they missed out on a touchdown as a result of the fumble in the first half and gave up a field goal after Charlie Jones fumbled during a punt return in the second half.

Fumbles were not the only issue for the Bengals though, as the offense had a lot of trouble establishing a two-way attack. After this week’s performance, the Bengals offensive line will be under scrutiny once more, giving up three sacks to the Patriots’ one. Furthermore, the Bengals offensive line was not able to spur new signing Zack Moss and the running game into a successful day, as the team ran for only 70 total yards in comparison to the Patriots 170 rushing yards. Trading away Joe Mixon, who ran for over 1000 yards in four out of seven seasons for the Bengals and 159 yards in his 2024 season debut for the Houston Texans may have played a role in the lack of run production as well.

Looking ahead to week two, the Bengals will face a tough opponent in the Kansas City Chiefs. Zac Taylor will have a lot of work to do in order to prepare his team to hold Patrick Mahomes and Isiah Pacheco at bay. After yesterday’s performance, Taylor and the Bengals are now 1-10 in their first two games of the season since he took over in 2019. While the Bengals look to be outmatched on paper, especially after their week one performance, it is worth noting that Joe Burrow has never lost to Patrick Mahomes in the regular season, and including playoff performances is 3-1 all-time whenever the two quarterbacks have met.