Rival Report: Bengals blown out at home

The last of our Rival Reports from this week focuses on that team in Southern Ohio, the Cincinnati Bengals. The tiger-striped division foe of the Steelers stunk up their home stadium on Saturday night in an embarrassing 30-12 loss.

Those comments may seem harsh because everyone here at SCU continues to remind fans that it’s only the preseason. However, if you thought the Steelers defense looked bad against the Falcons last weekend, you can find solace in knowing the Bengals looked worse.

Cincy Secondary

The Bengals, with their vaunted first round, picks in their secondary, were torched by every Kansas City quarterback who took a snap in this game. The Chiefs scored on all five of their first five possessions. Starter Alex Smith and rookie Patrick Mahomes both threw for over 80 yards. Mahomes picked apart the Bengals for two touchdowns and even Chiefs third-string QB Tyler Bray completed an 18-yard touchdown pass… on his first snap of the game.

Cincy offense and defense

The Chiefs outgained the Bengals 411 yards to 257. The three KC quarterbacks combined for a 126.2 QB rating and three touchdowns. Charchandrick West ran for 117 yards on only seven carries, rookie Kareem Hunt carried the ball eight times for 40 yards, and Mahomes even added 29 rushing yards on three carries. C.J. Spiller added another 27 yards on the ground as Kansas City piled up 228 rushing yards… against many first team Bengals defenders, such as Vontaze Burfict.

Their defense was widely criticized for missing tackles all night long and the crowd at Paul Brown Stadium could be heard booing during portions of the game where the Bengals couldn’t create a stop.

One bright spot

The one bright spot for Cincy is their kicker competition between Randy Bullock and Jake Elliott. Each hit a pair of field goals in this game.

Then the rest

But that’s where the cheering ends, as Cincinnati has gone eight preseason quarters of football without an offensive touchdown. Andy Dalton threw an interception in the red zone a week earlier, and his backup, the highly touted A.J. McCarron had a poor 44.6 passer rating after completing 8-of-15 passes with a pick.

Third string passer Jeff Driskel was even worse, completing only 2-of-6 attempts for a meager 13 yards.

While they gave up rushing yards in bunches, the Bengals offense struggled to run the football. Jeremy Hill carried the football six times for 28 yards while rookie Joe Mixon also had six carries, but for eight fewer yards (16) than Hill.

Conclusion

With only two preseason games to show for thus far, the Bengals are looking to rebound from last year’s 6-9-1 season. They will need to improve on both sides of the football, and fast, in order to pose a threat to even the Cleveland Browns, who look much more organized with a younger stable of players at this point.

The wounded Baltimore Ravens may even sneak in front of Cincinnati if they’re not careful. So far, my opinion from afar of the Bengals is that their defense is starting to hit the age wall that Pittsburgh’s did years ago. The difference being, I don’t believe the Bengals will have enough talent on the field to help them hover around a .500 record and postseason contention while rebuilding, in the same way, the Steelers did.

Up next for the Bengals is a road trip to play the Redskins Sunday afternoon.

By Joe Kuzma Founder and Head Writer of Steel City Underground. Crusher of trolls. Voice of reason. Can’t decide whether I like the Steelers more than craft beer. Why do I have to choose? Follow @joe_kuzma

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