CINCINNATI — The Bengals are 0-2 again. But this feels worse than last year. Much worse. <\/p>\n
Last year, following a 20-17 last-second loss to the Cowboys in Dallas, the Bengals were getting a stronger Joe Burrow back. He hadn’t hit his rhythm but you could sense it coming. <\/p>\n
They had lost on the last play of overtime to the Steelers in Week 1 and suffered another heartbreaker in Dallas. But Burrow was getting stronger every week. <\/p>\n
When Burrow pulled up lame on his second touchdown pass of the day to Tee Higgins, the f-bombs were easy to read on his face. He might as well been speaking for all of Who Dey Nation. <\/p>\n
The Bengals lost 27-24 Sunday to the Baltimore Ravens at Paycor Stadium. They are 0-2 again in the AFC North. And now they don’t know if they’ll have their franchise quarterback for the game to keep them from their first 0-3 start since Zac Taylor’s first season in 2019. <\/p>\n
You could read the uncertainty on Burrow’s face when asked about his re-tweaked right calf, suffered on the play before his fourth-quarter TD pass to Higgins. Earlier in the second half, he managed to avoid a pressure in the pocket and appeared to be back to his normal self as he threw for 187 yards in the second half. <\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, that felt great and obviously, I tweaked it again,” Burrow said. “So, we’ll just have to reevaluate the next couple of days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now what?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t know. It’s tough to tell,” Burrow admitted. “It’s tough to look into the future and see that. I’m doing everything I can to get healthy and get that thing the way I need to so I can go out and perform the way I need to win. We’ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Until Burrow is 100 percent, there is no reason to play him and have him risk being lost for the season. Yes, that means they’ll have to start Jake Browning. But watching Joe Burrow hobble around won’t do anyone any good, most of all Burrow. <\/p>\n
But if he’s going to play, then it’s on the offensive line to protect him the best they can. On Sunday, Burrow was sacked just once. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know the details on what Joe\u2019s going through,” center and captain Ted Karras said. “I think it puts a lot of onus on the offensive line to play close to perfect. If his mobility is lacking, we don\u2019t want him to have to escape and move around too much.<\/p>\n
“I thought we limited pressures (and) I thought the offensive line played a solid game \u2014 obviously not good enough to win \u2014 but we\u2019re coming back. Joe\u2019s our leader, Joe\u2019s going to get it done for us and my whole goal is to just be my very best to not ever let him down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n"We don't need to dip our toe in the water. We need to dive right in." Ted Karras on Bengals slow offensive starts. pic.twitter.com\/KkmNQAAsM6<\/a><\/p>\n
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) September 17, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n