Two weeks ago, we felt so good about the second half of the Cincinnati Bengals’ season. They were in the AFC North race. They had proven stars at key positions. An X-factor player who could break open the offense was about to return at tight end.
Now, the only things that are broken are our hearts. Cincinnati suffered serious losses on Sunday, from the 16-12 contest it dropped to the Buffalo Bills to two of their best players: wide receiver AJ Green (hamstring) and running back Giovani Bernard (ACL). Bernard is done for the season, and Green probably is, too.
What Went Wrong for the Cincinnati Bengals in This Game
For the second straight week, the Cincinnati Bengals drop a game in the most maddening way possible. They make a ton of mistakes and lose by a few points. The most glaring miscues were the 2 missed XPs by kicker Mike Nugent. As a result, we were down by 4 instead of 2 late in the 4th quarter. Which meant trying a Hail Mary rather than a field goal for the win.
Losing A.J. Green on the second play set the tone for the afternoon. Cincinnati couldn’t make Buffalo respect their downfield passing attack and only finished with 300 yards of total offense – less than what you hope for when playing a depleted Bills team. Cincy had 2 drives in the second half that went for more than 3 plays. One of those was the game-ending 11-play drive that produced no points.
The second half of this season is playing out like a nightmare prom. You know, like you have a date with the cutest girl in school, but your car doesn’t start when you go to pick her up. Hope just crumbles before your eyes. The playoffs look farther away. There are many breakdowns here, and as you’d expect, most of the blame will fall on head coach Marvin Lewis. How much longer will he be in Cincinnati?
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