CINCINNATI — Ja’Marr Chase stood in front of his locker expressing frustration following the Bengals’ 16-10 loss against New England, the latest early-season egg laid in a coup full of them.
“I don’t like losing,” he said.
He might need to specify which loss he’s referencing.
In one of the ugliest opening weekends in recent history — and that’s saying something — there were almost too many to count.
There’s the stunning loss to a team with a first-time head coach, starting Jacoby Brissett, relatively unknown receivers and a rough offensive line including guard Michael Jordan, cast off as not good enough to be on one of the worst lines of the Joe Burrow era in 2021. The Bengals put on a masterclass in how to allow an 8.5-point underdog to pull off an upset by fumbling at the 1-yard line and on a punt return, creating a 10-point swing. Throw in ending up short of the sticks on a fourth-and-2 in the second half and wasted possessions were abound.
Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, who was inactive Sunday, sit on the sideline as the Bengals lost to the Patriots 16-10. (Cara Owsley / USA Today)
Then there’s the loss for the run defense they thought would be able to find answers with better communication and a refreshed approach to avoid again being among the league’s worst. Instead, they missed tackles all day long and allowed 170 yards rushing.
The largest concern of the offseason was the run defense could be a suffocating issue and that 100 percent appeared the case in Week 1.
“Lot of the same issues kind of happened today and, truthfully, it’s unacceptable,” linebacker Logan Wilson said. “We have to be better, we know we got to be better. We had guys in the right places, we just got to make the tackle. That’s the bottom line.”
There’s the loss over excitement for an offense breaking out new weapons to expand explosiveness, instead turning in one of the least explosive games in recent history with Burrow at the helm. He only completed one pass of more than 16 yards. That would have been tied for his fewest in a game as a starter if not for the goose egg in that department in last year’s rain-drenched opener at Cleveland. Only six of his 29 total passes (plus one deep defensive pass interference) even went more than seven yards in the air.
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He was short and fired off a series of “have to watch the tape” responses postgame as the Bengals wonder how exactly these plans went so sideways.
“We had our opportunities and didn’t take advantage of them,” Burrow said. “It was not our best day.”
A revamped run game with Chase Brown and Zack Moss only showed up for one drive — which ended in the team’s only touchdown — but offered little else. Moss had four carries for 33 yards, including a 5-yard score, on the drive in the third quarter. Brown added an 8-yard run. Outside of that drive, they combined to carry seven times for 14 yards. They didn’t log a single carry on the two drives after that.
“Can’t wait until the third quarter to unlock a competent run game,” center Ted Karras said.
Heck, even Joe Mixon, a fan favorite traded away in the offseason, went for 159 yards on the ground and received a game ball in a Houston victory.
Then there’s loss in the reality that this team can’t figure out how to start a season fast. The excuse of a full camp for their quarterback was eliminated as a reason this year. They are now 1-10 in the first two weeks of the season under Zac Taylor, with an overtime win against the Vikings in 2021 as the lone outlier. They have entered the last five in a row as the favorite, Sunday by the widest margin yet.
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Players felt this camp was more rigorous than those in the past, citing the increase in move-the-ball drills to challenge conditioning, along with the two joint practices with the Bears and Colts.
“I felt prepared, I think this team felt prepared, energized and ready to go,” Karras said, voicing displeasure with a third consecutive season opener without a touchdown before halftime. “I’m not surprised. I’m disappointed. I wouldn’t say I’m in here shocked. We played a good team and we didn’t execute and we got beat. We scored 10 points in an NFL football game. You’re not going to beat anyone.”
Taylor didn’t feel frustration because of yet another slow start, even different than the 24-3 nothingburger in the Cleveland rain last year or the five-turnover loss to Pittsburgh the year before. He directed his ire at two primary culprits.
“Looking at the turnover battles and looking at the missed tackles,” he said. “It’s as simple as that.”
“We got to handle ourselves internally and block out the external noise… I know our guys will do a great job at that.” – Zac on looking ahead. pic.twitter.com/vIl2nqhMoR
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 8, 2024
What made this weekend feel worse than all those before, however, were the losses sustained off the field.
The loss of Higgins shaking the label of being prone to hamstring issues, again missing a game with an injury that has frustratingly followed every stride of his career. He changed his diet, worked into fantastic shape during an impressive camp and could only watch from the sideline after tweaking it Thursday with a look of helplessness as the game went sideways.
Then there’s the loss of a life-changing contract for Chase, who instead of agreeing to a deal he himself said represented the club bending over backward for him, passed on it, to play out the season and take on all the risks that come with it in hopes of making more in 2025.
Will those potential gains prove worth it?
It’s hard not to think about what could happen. Just ask Burrow about the scary nature of learning about and rehabbing his wrist injury. Ask Nick Chubb about trying to regain his old form while coming back from a gnarly knee injury. Ask anyone who’s ever run into problems off the field to cloud how they are viewed. These things happen. It’s hard to believe that’s a risk worth taking on over a deal that on Friday he deemed “pretty close.”
All of that after missing training camp trying to get it done, limiting his reps in the scheme with Burrow and conditioning to play a full game in an opener that desperately needed his playmaking.
There’s also the loss of benefit of the doubt for a front office unwilling to bend to its second-best player. They failed to find common ground of what should have been a confirmation of Chase’s connection with Burrow being the franchise’s central core for the foreseeable future.
While players across the league found a way to agree to deadline extensions, from Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb in Dallas to Brandon Aiyuk in San Francisco and five members of the top 10 in Chase’s draft class, the Bengals held their line and failed to make it happen.
Sometimes breaking precedent and just finding a way is worth a perceived squandered value.
Instead, they set in motion a season of the contract status of two star receivers simmering below the surface and in conversations around the locker room. It’s hard to fight the cheap label when two starting receivers, drafted, developed and blossoming here, now feel like the front office doesn’t properly value them as seemingly every other receiver in football got paid. They become the latest round of elite players mad at ownership — rightly or wrongly — in the same way, joining Jessie Bates, Trey Hendrickson and DJ Reader before them.
In this game of chicken, the Bengals and Chase pulled off the rare lose-lose.
Each of these contractual situations came with their own set of reasons and understandable circumstances. Yet, the collection of small dents naturally will leave a noticeable mark on the minds of players wondering how they will be treated if they do everything right and their time comes around.
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For a team entering all-in year where they live on the short list of Super Bowl contenders, this weekend felt like more than one loss. The hard part is keeping up with how many. They’ve rebounded from ugly openers in the past. This one just feels worse.
Oh yeah, and next up: A date with the defending champs in Kansas City. Considering all the Bengals are dealing with, perhaps they are lucky to just be 0-1.
(Top photo: Dylan Buell / Getty Images)
