It all comes down to this for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals effectively puts the entire season on the line for the Bengals considering roughly six percent of teams to start 1-4 have made the playoffs since 1970.
Buy Bengals TicketsThe Bengals are 1-3 already coming out of that brutal 27-3 loss to the Titans. And while they’ve been pretty bad across the board (besides flashes of something late in Week 2 and during a Week 3 win), the Cardinals have played much better than a 1-3 team, losing two of three by four points or less and beating 3-1 Dallas by 10-plus points.
Those Cardinals have backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs completing 70.7 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and no interceptions and the ground game averages 5.3 yards per carry with eight rushes of 20-plus yards and four touchdowns. The Cardinals do give up a ton of yardage per game, but pass-rusher Dennis Gardeck has been a breakout with four sacks (sixth in NFL) already and the unit has shuttered names like Dak Prescott.
Ultimately, that’s the big concern here — Tennessee’s defense was very exploitable through the air and the Joe Burrow-led offense couldn’t get anything going. So do those rankings matter at all? That offense has managed just six combined points over two road games.
It’s all on Burrow. He wasn’t even on the injury report this week and the portions of practice made available to the public sure made it seem like he was more mobile than the week prior. But it’s impossible to say if that’s actually what unfolds during live action. If the offense can do some moving pockets and rollouts and he can escape a few sacks to extend plays — or even go under center to mix in a running game — then the offense should look back to its normal self.
But that offense won’t have Tee Higgins, either, as he’ll miss the game with the cracked rib. The spam Ja’Marr Chase strategy that just got past the Rams might be what we see again, to unknown results.
On paper, the Bengals have a far superior roster to the Cardinals and have dealt with the likes of Arizona running back James Conner before. Even with cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie and Cam Taylor-Britt hurting, one would think Lou Anarumo’s unit can slow a backup quarterback.
One would also think, by now, that Bengals coach Zac Taylor and his staff have found the right balance and approach to work around some of Burrow’s issues right as the quarterback himself is getting closer to 100 percent.
On paper, this should be a get-right game against a so-so roster and team for a Bengals squad that should be in the playoff hunt. While it’s risky, chalking the 1-3 start up to a coaching staff that has never shown it can start a season properly and Burrow’s injury, we’ll take the Bengals to escape this one and keep the season alive.
Prediction: Bengals 24, Cardinals 23
