Three takeaways from the Cincinnati Bengals’ loss to Los Angeles Chargers
Three takeaways from the Cincinnati Bengals’ 16-13 loss to the visiting Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday:
1. Joe Burrow’s debut was up and down and up again
The NFL’s No. 1 overall draft pick completed 23 of 36 passes for 193 yards without a touchdown and with one interception. The former LSU star’s passing rating was nothing to write home about, just 66.1%. And he threw a terrible interception in the fourth quarter when, chased out of the pocket, he tried a shovel pass that went right to Chargers’ defensive end Melvin Ingram.
To cut Burrow some slack, the quarterback was under constant pressure in the first half. The Chargers have one of the best defensive lines in the NFL and that line took advantage of Cincinnati’s shaky offensive line. Ends Joey Bosa and Ingram, along with tackles Linval Joseph and Jerry Tillery repeatedly harassed the Cincinnati rookie. Burrow was sacked three times.
“In the first half, he was running for his life there,” Bengals Coach Zac Taylor said afterward. “That’s two of the best edge rushers in the NFL and they happen to play on the same team.”
Despite all that, Burrow nearly rallied the Bengals to a win in the end. Taking over on his own 18-yard line, with no timeouts and Cincinnati trailing by three points, Burrow marched his team down the field, completing eight of 10 passes for 70 yards, setting up a 31-yard field goal attempt by Randy Bullock to send the game into overtime. Alas, Bullock appeared to pull a calf muscle on the kick, which sailed wide right.
2. The Bengals defense looked improved
Admittedly, the Chargers’ offense is not expected to exactly be the NFL’s best. Philip Rivers is gone with journeyman Tyrod Taylor as his replacement. Taylor hit on 16 of 30 passes for 208 yards with a 75.4 passer rating.
Overall, however, the Bengals held the Chargers to a touchdown and three field goals. Los Angeles gained 362 yards. When L.A. had a first-and-goal on the Cincinnati 2-yard line with 10 minutes to go in the game, the Bengals were able to hold the Chargers to a field goal. And when the visitors took over at the 5:13 mark, Cincinnati forced a three-and-out to get the ball back.
Not a bad debut for a revamped unit on which Mike Brown actually opened his wallet over the offseason. Linebacker Germaine Pratt, a third-round pick out of North Carolina State in 2019, led the way with 12 tackles. Defensive end Sam Hubbard had nine tackles, including one for a loss. New linebacker Josh Bynes contributed a sack.
3. Quick turnaround to Cleveland on Thursday
The Browns were bad in their 2020 debut under new coach Kevin Stefanski, falling 38-6 in Baltimore to Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. Coming back home to Cleveland, the Browns will no doubt be anxious to redeem themselves against their in-state rivals.
One of Cincinnati’s two 2019 wins came against Cleveland, 33-23 in the final home game of the season. Just a few hours later, Cleveland fired head coach Freddie Kitchens. Just a few months later, the Bengals took Burrow, an Athens, Ohio, native, with the first pick in the NFL Draft. So both teams set a new path for this season.
Sunday, Burrow said he made too many mistakes to win the game. The interception was the most glaring. But Burrow also pointed to missing on a couple of deep balls. The first, to John Ross, in the end zone was catchable. The second, to A.J. Green, found Burrow leading his best receiver just a little too much. The guess here is it won’t be long before he’s hitting on those throws.
This story was originally published September 14, 2020 at 8:37 AM.
