Now the Bengals face an uphill battle to reach its playoff goals while 0-3 for the first time in the Joe Burrow era, though 14 games remain. Here are five takeaways from the loss:
1. Failing to get stops
The Bengals were without defensive tackles Sheldon Rankins and B.J. Hill because of hamstring injuries, and they were sorely missed, but the defense had all kinds of issues Monday that could be attributed to struggles at every level.
The Commanders were 3-for-3 in the red zone and 3-for-3 on fourth downs, and they scored touchdowns on their first four drives and got points on every complete possession. They settled for a field goal on one drive in the fourth quarter and had two kneel-downs to end both halves.
Washington hadn’t scored 38 points since Thanksgiving of 2020.
“Very frustrating,” cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt said. “They went on long drives the whole game. They had a lot of third-and-two. We wanted to get them in third-and-long, so they had to pass the ball to the outside, but it didn’t turn out that way.”
2. “A long way to go”
Cincinnati had four touchdowns, including on each of its last three drives, didn’t punt and didn’t have a turnover and it still wasn’t good enough. No team in the Super Bowl era had ever done that and lost in 26 previous instances.
Even after throwing for a season-high 324 yards and three touchdowns, Burrow feels like the offense still has “a long way to go.” Facing an opponent that has now gone two straight games without punting, the Bengals needed to produce touchdowns and not settle for field goals.
In the second quarter, Evan McPherson missed a 51-yard field goal, then gave Cincinnati a pair of short field goals for its only other first-half points following an opening-drive touchdown.
“They played great on offense today,” Burrow said. “Jayden (Daniels) played unbelievable. We had our opportunities and didn’t cash in on them. That’s been the common denominator from the first three weeks. We’ve had opportunities and didn’t cash in on them. Whatever we have to do to get better this week.”
3. Lack of pressure up front
Daniels faced very little pressure and took advantage to complete all but two of his 23 passes, finishing with 254 yards and two touchdowns. With a wide pocket in the third quarter, he launched a 55-yard bomb to Terry McLaurin to set up an easy touchdown run for himself. He even connected with offensive tackle Trent Scott for a touchdown.
Starting defensive tackles Jay Tufele and Zach Carter split a sack in the first quarter but even Trey Hendrickson struggled to make an impact until late in the game. He finished with one sack on an important final drive for the defense, but Daniels ended up converting a fourth down to extend the possession and three plays later found McLaurin deep for a 27-yard touchdown — one of four explosive passes on the night.
“When you’ve got an athletic quarterback who can make plays with his feet, it’s tough,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “It’s (a) similar (situation) to some guys that we play in our division in terms of how he can beat you that way. And again, we didn’t do enough to defeat them today.”
4. Other positives on offense
The Bengals got Tee Higgins back, and that opened things up for Ja’Marr Chase, who had touchdowns of 41 and 31 yards — his first two of the season — and finished with six catches for 118 yards. Higgins had just three catches for 39 yards but two of those were third-down conversions and the other put Cincinnati in a third-and-1.
Burrow said Higgins is still “getting his feet wet” and will continue to improve, but it felt good to get the connection back with Chase.
“We caught a couple, one in single-high coverage today,” Burrow said. “I’m not sure how much more we’re going to see of that. He caught it two times, and we scored two touchdowns. We’ll see if teams continue to do that. I hope they do. We’re going to continue to try to take advantage of our opportunities.”
Cincinnati also got its running game going with a good balance of use between Zack Moss and Chase Brown, who combined for 120 yards on 19 carries. Moss also added 39 yards on five catches. Rookie right tackle Amarius Mims made his debut and was thrust into a big role when Trent Brown went down with a right knee injury in the second quarter. Taylor said it doesn’t look good for Brown.
5. Down, not out
Players in the locker room after the game described their record as “frustrating” but there’s now a heightened sense of urgency to get a win Sunday at Carolina.
Burrow said he is not sure what happened defensively on Monday but he is still confident in that side of the ball because the team has “great coaches” and “really good players that are willing to improve and take coaching.”
The results to this point were concerning enough that Burrow and Taylor decided to have a private conversation after the game, heading to the area that leads to the coaches’ offices instead of straight to the locker room. Burrow said it was a “very positive conversation,” though.
“We’re not happy with where we’re at, but by no means is the season over,” Burrow said of the conversation. “We’re 0-3. There’s 14 left to play. We just have to continue to get better and see where the cards fall in the next 10 weeks. We just have to go into this week preparing to get better and trying to get a win. That’s all I can do.”
SUNDAY’S GAME
Bengals at Panthers, 1 p.m., Fox, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
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