The Cincinnati Bengals almost won a Super Bowl two seasons ago. A questionable defensive holding call helped ruin that.
Last postseason, the Bengals lost the AFC championship game to the Kansas City Chiefs on the final play. For a second time in two seasons, the Bengals seemed to be a break or two away from a title.
When a team gets that close, we all expect it to eventually take the next step and win a championship or two. That might have happened to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, but it’s rare. Usually, those teams catch a couple bad breaks, the rest of the league catches and passes them and that championship window slams shut.
The championship window hasn’t closed for Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow — he said that window is his whole career, and he might not be wrong — but Thursday night showed how fragile everything is in the NFL. Burrow threw a touchdown pass to take a lead against the Baltimore Ravens, but at the end of the pass he grabbed his wrist in pain. He didn’t return and the Bengals will hope that it’s not the type of injury that keeps him out and completely crushes their season. Jake Browning, who was undrafted in 2019 and threw his only NFL regular-season pass in Week 1 of this season, took over. Browning had trouble moving the offense, and Baltimore cruised to a 34-20 win.
After the game, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor told the media it “looked like” Burrow sprained his wrist but offered no updates on the severity of the injury and if his quarterback might miss anytime.
Even if Burrow is fine and returns this season, the loss put Cincinnati in a bad place in the AFC North. A lot needs to go right to win a championship, and the Bengals have to wonder where this season’s hex came from.
Ravens well ahead of the Bengals
The Bengals are 2 1/2 games behind the Ravens and as a result of a season sweep, lose the head-to-head tiebreaker to Baltimore. The Ravens are 8-3 and the Bengals fell to 5-5.
Even if the Bengals are great from here on out, they need to…
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Publish date : 2023-11-17 04:24:08
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