Cincinnati Bengals Squander BIG Lead, Suffer Pathetic Loss to Jets

Cincinnati Bengals Squander BIG Lead, Suffer Pathetic Loss to Jets

If you look like that against Justin Fields New York Jets without Garrett Wilson, you’re simply the worst defense in the NFL. And it’s hard to see how it can get better. You are Locked On Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. What up Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Locked On Bengals podcast. part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. I’m Jake Blisco. He is James RP and we’ve got you covered here on Lockdown Bengals every day since 2016. Every day through the thick and thin, including this season, which is is getting thinner and thinner by the day, which I’m sick of saying, James, as the Bengals dropped a disastrous disastrous game to the New York Jets. the anemic, pathetic New York Jets make the Bengals look even more anemic, pathetic, inexcusable, a deflating loss, whatever you want to call it, but uh a game in which we called this a a spot where the Bengals had to stay on track, an opportunity for the defense to get right, and they kind of did neither of those things. They definitely didn’t do that on the defensive side of the ball. The everyday heard us talk about that going into this show, which is sponsored by Game Time where you can save $20 on tickets in the app with promo code locked on NFL on your first purchase. But James, a game where the Bengals scored 38 points against a New York Jets team that hasn’t scored a meaningful touchdown in about a month was what Mike Greenberg said about the New York Jets after the Bengals lost this game. Outscored 23 to7 in the fourth quarter and the Bengals dropped to three and five. Unacceptable. Uh unbelievable to a degree to be that bad. This is the worst defense the Bengals have ever had. Ever had like ever like ever. Certainly in the Zack Taylor era. And I don’t want to hear about 2019. I don’t want to hear about last year with Lou. Uh Germaine Pratt what miss tackles would have made more plays on Bree Hall today. I mean there’s one guy that can beat you, Jake. One. There’s one guy that coming in you’re like you can’t let 20 beat you. And I talked to multiple guys about that. And now for the third straight week, the premier running back for the other team goes off. Seven plus yards a carry last week, the Jaylen Warren. The year uh the week before that, Josh Jacobs had over five yards per carry in over two more yards per carry against the Bengals than he came in averaging. And then you got Bree Hall doing what he did today. In the fourth quarter, when you have a double digit lead, that’s how you know you have the worst run defense maybe ever is when you’re down two scores and you’re like, “We still have time to run the ball. that they could Joe Flacco hasn’t stopped scoring. They keep scoring on our defense, but guess what? We still have time to run the ball because they’re going to give us chunks. And boy oh boy, did the Jets get chunks. And this Bengals defense, well, they blew chunks throughout the game. I mean, it was just unacceptable is one of the many words, but like th this is the type of game that switches where let’s just say they win 4139 and somehow kick a field goal late and they win. Well, then you’re like, well, at least they found a way to get to four and four and all of those other things that are major major issues. They they live to fight another day where maybe they can rebound. Now at three and five with all these issues, it just feels so much different. And I I think a couple of things. One, this Al Golden thing doesn’t feel good because they’re just not even doing basic things that they should be doing. They’re not in the right spot. They’re not tackling it with basic fundamentals, all of those things. And by the way, the the man that picked Al is Zach Taylor. And boy oh boy, when it got tight and they needed to go get points, they did it not feel good. It didn’t feel good down the stretch there with uh with Zack Taylor calling the like I just there’s a lot of a lot of reasons why they lost and folded and and couldn’t put this this Jets team away and then ultimately lost this game. But, uh, the more I think about it, the more it’s it’s an indictment on Zack Taylor, on the coaching staff. You can always go higher level with personnel and all of those things. But I don’t give a damn who’s playing linebacker. If Jake Lisk goes in there, I’m gonna need you to tackle with pretty sound technique and be where you’re supposed to be. And that’s a reflection of coaching. You’re up 31 to 16 going into the fourth quarter. Just scored a touchdown. You’re playing against the Justin Fields New York Jets and you get run over. Like you said, they’re running the ball to beat you in the fourth quarter down two scores. That’s cra That never happens in the league. Like I watch a lot of NFL football. You do too. Like that does not happen. That’s not a thing. It’s not a thing. And and the Jets averaged nearly seven yards per carry as a team in this game. 37 carries, 254 yards in total. runs of 35, 50, 25 other explosive runs that I’m not naming as well. Those are just some longs for each player. Isaiah Davis, who uh I wasn’t too aware of before today, going for that 50 yard run, also had five catches for 44 yards in this game. The Bengals on offense averaging 7.9 yards per carry. Actually a yard better than the Jets. They lost in a game they were leading. Justin Fields also 21 to 32 for 244 yards and a touchdown. Adds 11 carries uh including a kneel down for 31 yards. And I I just uh and a couple of two-point conversions. I I don’t have anything good to say about the defense today, James. Like even in the last couple of weeks, there’s been at least something. PJ Turner, who was probably the least egregious but was involved in one of the touchdowns the Bengals gave up this game. What was the bright spot last week? We’ve had some times where like Trey Hendrickson has been a bright spot or you know there’s been a big takeaway here or there. No takeaways in this game to save you. They get one fourth down stop early in the game which is almost enough for them to win the game. Just that one stop on fourth down that that gets the Bengals positive field position. They score a touchdown. 10-0 lead early in this game should have been enough, right? Should have been enough for them to put this team away. But what’s crazy is, and we’re going to spend a lot of time talking about how bad this defense was, the lack of a pass rush, the tackling issues, the coverage issues, the inability to take good angles, to get runners on the ground, and and you don’t even get a tackle attempt. Justin Fields outrunning seven different Bengals on a two-point conversion attempt at one point. When the Bengals did force punts in this game, they forced two. One in in the first quarter when it was 10-0, the Bengals force a punt, have an opportunity to go take a 17 to zero lead. The Bengals go three and out on offense. The second half, the Bengals force one punt. The Jets first drive of the second half, they force a punt. The Bengals go three and out. And despite that, despite them not taking advantage of the few stops that the defense did get on offense and the lack of complimentary football, you’re still up 31 to 16 at the end of the third quarter because you did score another touchdown to get to 31 points and then you score another touchdown to get to 38-24. And it’s reminiscent uh of some of those Baltimore games last year, right James? We’re talking about multiple two score two touchdown second half leads. But it’s not Lamar Jackson and and Derrick Henry on the other side. That is Justin Fields and Bruce Hall and no receivers. Mhm. And and despite that, the Jets go touchdown, touchdown, touchdown to finish the game and convert multiple two-point conversions. Yeah. And your offense wilts in the in the fourth quarter, which have been really good until then. The Jets had 502 yards of total offense. 502. It’s just the second time since 2000 that they’ve done. The other time was Mike Flight White dunking on the Bengals a few years ago. Yeah. And now this time. So Louis Anarumo, Shake Hands with Al Golden. You guys are both taking huge L’s for this one. And I’m not comparing the two. I’m just saying like neither one of those should have happened. This one is much worse. Like I like this could end up like if Zack Taylor gets fired, this is the game we point to. Like if if Al Golden doesn’t make it, if this if this t if this season just goes sideways, like if we don’t see Joe Burrow again this year, this might be the reason why. And that really sucks. Like when you put it in that perspective, it really sucks because they should have won the game. It’s embarrassing that they didn’t win the game for a a bunch of reasons. And there’s some stuff on offense that I definitely want to talk about, but we have to get more on this defense that is just I mean when you have me citing Germaine Pratt what miss tackles as almost a positive you know things have gone bad and that’s where this 2025 Cincinnati Bengals defense is. We will continue the conversation about this defense coming up next. Today’s show is brought to you by prize picks. You know what I would do, Jake? On prize picks from now on, I I’ll be honest, you make decisions every day. You know, on prize picks, well, being right gets you paid. Next week, any running back the Bengals have to deal with. So, so next week I’m thinking about I’m like, “Yeah, probably should go with the Bears running backs and and look at that and see what you can do on prize picks.” And and that’s the fun part about prize picks is you’re not limited to teams or specific players or positions or have to worry about injuries. 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And the right moves are find someone that can tackle. I’m done with this. I am so done with the tackle issues. Uh what’s the backup I was Isaiah Davis? The the backup running back for the Jets. Yeah. Yeah. Uh Isa Isaiah Davis. That is correct. Yeah. There are a couple Isaiah’s. Isaiah Williams also having a revenge game out there. Yeah. Ridiculous that he had like five catches or whatever he had. But Isaiah Davis versus Barrett Carter. I just hear here the other day and I’m talking to Zack Taylor and we’re talking to him and he’s like, “Yeah, we really like Barrett and all these things.” And you better make the play on Isaiah Davis. I almost said Isaiah Thomas on Isaiah on the backup. That’s not Bree Hall. And instead it’s a 50-yard run. Like that’s th those are the type of plays that swing the game and give the give the Jets momentum and keep the Jets in it when they’re done. It’s over. And those plays just can’t happen. Like if those are going to continue to happen, well then get his ass off the field. And I like Barry, but it’s the same thing for Demetrius and it’s the same thing for anybody else. Like if if you can’t tackle, you shouldn’t be on the field. And and and it’s that simple. And there are guys that might be too slow that that might not have the athleticism, but they damn sure are gonna tackle when they’re in a hole one-on-one with someone. And I would rather have that than whatever the heck I watch today. Because what I watch today, Joe Flacco isn’t going to be able to overcome it. Jamar Chase and T. Higgins aren’t going to be able to overcome. They’re just not going to be able to overcome it. It’s going to be too much. And it’s again, I I keep going back to the coaches because personnel is personnel, but it’s October. and being able to tackle and being in the right spot. Those are two things that is just it’s a common theme with this defense time and time and time and time again. It’s definitely a huge part of the problem. But the the thing this week is like it’s it’s everything everything was bad this week, right? Tackling was a problem for a number of guys. You got missed tackles for five different players on defense at least. And that’s the initial charting from PFF. I’m sure it’ll feel worse than that when you watch the tape. The just didn’t tack tackle well either in this game and Sama Perine uh and Chase Brown a lot to do with that. But the the lack of a pass rush, even if they could tackle, if you pressure the quarterback like five times in a game, and Justin Fields, again, according to PFF charting, pressured six times on 37 drop backs, 15% of his drop backs. And on those drop backs, by the way, uh completed a touchdown pass on a fourth and two when Jordan Battle, for whatever reason, did not just run through the quarterback on that play. You’re you’re going to have a bad day. Your secondary is going to have a bad time when Justin Fields can sit back there for what what do we got like 3 seconds? Three and a half seconds per pass and just wait for a guy to get open. I mean, he’s still inaccurate. He’s still spraying the ball on some of those when he’s sitting in a clean pocket. He’s still Justin Fields, but now you’re two issues. You have no pass rush and Trey Hendrickson leaves the game after he takes a I I would call it a very borderline shot. Uh very easy to call it dirty. Wouldn’t blame you if you did. I I don’t know if I would go quite that far myself. Uh but Trey Hendrickson leaves the game aggravating his hip injury and is not himself in the first place. Nobody else is winning. Nobody else is winning in this game. They get a couple pressures with blitzes and like I said, one of them turns into a touchdown because your safety doesn’t run through the quarterback on a when he’s a free runner. So, you have a pass rush issue. You have a tackling issue. And then your your young linebackers are getting picked apart in coverage. Barrett Carter targeted 10 times in this game according to PFF. Gives up nine catches for 84 yards. Logan Wilson targeted twice in this game. Gave up two catches on those two targets for 43 yards. only on the field for 20 snaps in this game. Dax Hill, not his best game. Seven targets, six catches, 66 yards. And so, you’ve got gap issues in the run game. You’ve got tackling issues all over the field. You’ve got coverage issues. You’ve got pass rush issues that make your coverage issues worse. And there’s just no salvation. I don’t know where it comes from. All these guys were talking about coin flips. Like, are anybody are any of these guys going to step up as pass rushers? Answer is no. Chris Jenkins, Miles Murphy, Shamar Stewart, Joseph Osai. You can throw BJ Hill into the mix as he came back this this year on on that extension. Nobody is getting after the passer on this team. And that makes everything else so much worse. Yeah. If you look at their the defensive stats, right? Like if I see the Jets, I see, oh, two pass breakups, two pass breakups, one pass break up, one pass break up, one pass breakup, a sack, multiple tackles for loss, and Joe Flacker was kept relatively clean. You look at the Bengals, it’s four pass breakups, three tackles for loss, one quarterback hit, and that was Cam Taylor Britt. Like one, no pressure, no disruption, no no nothing. Like Jordan Battle didn’t even get a quarterback hit on that Justin Fields play. Like that’s impossible. And yet he didn’t. And maybe you disrupt the throw enough if you run straight through him. Who knows? Maybe you sack him. Maybe you force a fumble. Who who knows? And and I don’t I don’t think that would have happened, but maybe. And so you’re right. I I don’t know what they do well. Like I can’t say, “Oh, well, at least they’ll be able to do this.” And that’s why I keep coming back to like the basic stuff because even if you suck, at least get the basics down. Like you might not be the most talented whatever writer in the world, but if you know how to type on a laptop, like you’d be able to write a sentence, right? It might not be the best sentence. Mark Twain might not that, you know, but it would be a sentence they can’t they don’t even know how to turn the damn thing on, let alone type a sentence, let alone pull up Microsoft Word. Like, they’re so far behind it. And I just It’s all bad. It’s all bad. Like this should have been an impossible game to lose after you get the lead. Like after you did the thing that it wasn’t like Justin Fields came out and there was a broken play, 80 yard drive, then Flaco strips sack and Quinnon Williams recovers and like those things didn’t even happen. So how the hell did you lose this game and you you peed down your leg on offense late and your defense was so Swiss cheese and and there were holes everywhere. And I I agree. I don’t know how you plug even a couple of them realistically moving forward. And uh it’s it’s a tough spot to be in. The fact that it’s happening against the Jets makes it feel irreoverable to me, right? Like this this is the worst offense in the NFL. And your defense today was worse than it was against Jordan Love in Green Bay. Was worse than it was against Aaron Rogers in prime time. And just no resistance. Right. We talked about the suspect interior defensive line for the Jets. They played great in this game. Talked about the opportunity at left tackle with FashionU having some struggles in pass protection. There’s no there’s no pass rush in this game. The Jets have one of the worst pass protection offensive lines in the NFL. If you can’t pass rush against one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL, and you can’t stop a team that’s had the worst offense in the NFL, what hope is there against teams that are actually decent on offense in other games? I know every game is going to be different any given Sunday. The Jets, you know, have all their motivation to finally win a game. The Bengals are coming off Thursday Night Football where they’re still winless, by the way. Can’t overcome that, Juju. No, I just don’t know where the hope is on the defensive side of the ball right now. And that is just brutal. Meanwhile, the offense, like you said, had chances to finish the game. And I am not going to be too hard on the offense in this game. They largely did their jobs, right? They scored 38 points. Uh, but we we can talk about Zack Taylor finishing the game. I think throughout this week because we’re not going to get to it today, there’s gonna have to be more conversation about Al Golden. I think this does go to the top. You mentioned it. It does go to Duke Tobin and the way they’re approaching the draft and free agency and the way they’ve missed on those players, player development, but we’ll have to get into it another day as we can get to the offense here. The way the Bengals finished this game, an inexcusable loss to the New York Jets coming up next. Today’s show is brought to you by Game Time. I used the Game Time app and well, you should too. I used it to go to Taff Theater, saw Taylor Tomlinson on Saturday. Game time made it easy. And whether it’s that, whether you’re thinking, I want to go watch this Bengals defense take on Ben Johnson in the Chicago Bears next week. Well, Game Time is the perfect app that’s going to make it so easy to get tickets because tickets can be well, it could be a hassle getting tickets between cues and login screens, all of those things. Game Time makes it simple. 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And you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. FanDuel has options from in-game bets to futures to NFL, NBA, any sport you can imagine. So, keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is making that late push. So, again, if you’re looking for a team to make that late push that the Bengals couldn’t, maybe the NBA is a better shot. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fandle.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official betting partner of the NBA. All right, Jake, let’s uh let’s get to a word Zach Taylor used. humbling. It was humbling and then DJ Turner used it. I assume because Zach did. I don’t know why in the world they should have needed to be humbled. I don’t know why. Like they were three and four. Their defense has stunk all year. Early on it was oh well Joe’s hurt and Jake stinks and the defense is on the field the whole time. Well, that hasn’t been the case and you still stink. I don’t know what the humbling word makes no sense. I don’t know why you would need to be humbled when you did you think you arrived like this was a get back the 500 game a keep pace in the north game. A man hopefully the Steelers lose to the Packers and we’re only a half game out in the North and instead it’s a oh man y’all can’t do anything right game and at least on defense and uh so yeah I I didn’t get that. So that’s where I’ll start this Zack Taylor conversation. Yeah, I don’t I don’t get it either. I mean it’s a better not lose game was was what we called it, right? Uh stay better win a better win. You better win this thing. Stay on track. Better not lose. Must win. Whatever phrase you want to use and just laid an egg. I Zach did some good stuff in this game on the offensive side of the ball. There were some cool plays. There’s a playaction play where Jamar Chase is at running back and they fake a screen to him. They go no on the other side on a screen. They get a first down there. Playaction game in general in this game was awesome, including T. Higgins touchdown run game. Awesome again. And the Jets have a good run defense. So the fact that it worked again this week. Maybe they’re starting to figure something out. The run game. Does it matter? I mean c can we feel good about that really when you’re still losing a game where you put up 38 points one and three in your last two years when you give up 38 when you score 38 points. Sorry. I mean that’s just ridiculous. And I know it’s impossible. That’s impossible. Preposterous. Whatever. whatever word you want to use. I mean, if you’re watch if you’re watching on YouTube, you see that the the on today’s show is just a list of of adjectives and and we’ve come up with a few more on this show, but like I I I don’t know how else you describe giving up two two touchdown leads in the second half against this version of the New York Jets. But like for all the good things that happened in this game that I I want to credit Zack Taylor and the offense for, right? Because it is always multiple things. Nobody wants to hear about that right now. Is Zack Taylor hired Al Golden to come fix the defense. It’s not working. Yeah, Zack Taylor’s made personnel decisions supposedly. I’m sure the defensive coordinator and linebacker’s coach specifically that in that spot have have had something to do with it, but like coaches heavily involved in the draft process in Cincinnati, right? And I think this does go to Duke Tobin as well, and we’ll get into that another day. The way the team is put together, the way it’s been coached, when you lose a game like this, it all comes under fire because this was the worst team in the NFL, the 0 and7 New York Jets. And we thought they might be able to run the ball, but that’s all we thought they’d be able to do. And they were able to do way more than that. getting those stops in the second half where I think Flaco changes it to a pass on that second to last drive that the one that goes incomplete to Jamar Chase the the little screen that’s built in there and a run pass option but then they go three and out and then you get that second and long run to set up a third and nine on your on your drive where you need a field goal. Yeah. And now your play calling is under fire too. Even though you’ve scored 38 points in the game and we shouldn’t have to talk about play calling when you’re 38 points in the game but last two drives. Yeah, they they weren’t able to do it. Yeah, they I hated the run call on second down because it it just really gets away from you. You have momentum. You’re at the 45. You’re 20-ish yards away. I didn’t mind the shot that Joe Flacco took to Andre on the first down and Andre doesn’t catch it clean before he gets hit. Like if you watch that slow, I’m not sure he catches that if he’s just out there by himself. I’m like, that’s what sucks. It’s like, if you’re ever gonna have a chance to catch that ball and absorb the hit, you better catch it clean with strong hands and hold it. And and that didn’t happen. And I know it was a tough catch and he had to tweak twerk tweak his body or twerk his body back and all those things. But still, it’s that second down run, like you have to get yards there. Like whether it’s a run or not, you have to get something because otherwise it’s third down, third and long, and you know they’re teeing off. And they did and Joe had to throw it away. Now it’s fourth down. Suddenly the game’s on the line and all the pressure and the weight of the world’s on your shoulders when you were just up 38-24 a few minutes ago and and that’s that’s a hell of a place to be. I mean it’s very similar to like what the Bengals tried to do in Green Bay, but the Jets got that stop. They got the sack on third and eight essentially that the Bengals couldn’t get and then they’re able to get the ball back to their offense and the offense goes down and scores and and takes the lead. Look, I I agree. I think Zack in this Bengals offense, they’ve done a lot of good things and running the ball in general was really good, but game on the line, you know, they’re going to double T. You know, they’re going to double Jamar. And it’s not just this week, it’s every week. So, what’s the answer? And you need to have an answer. And if it’s Andre, fine. Andre better make the play. If it’s someone else, then someone else needs to make the play. But they need to figure that part out because that’s a huge in like the got to have it moment. It did not feel or look comfortable for anybody anybody involved and that includes a second down run to some Rajp Ryan that went for one yard. Honestly, for me it was all the way back in the the third quarter and they ended up scoring a touchdown this drive but when they get to that third and 12 it’s like uh oh y the things that they want to do aren’t really felt like a big play. It felt like a big play for them to do that. Yeah. It it prevents them from punching the ball back to the Jets and and keeps the Bengals honestly keeps the Bengals in in the lead into the fourth quarter. And to get to that point, and then it was really good after that, after they got that first down, but to get to that point, you have the the negative yard on first down, incomplete pass on second down, it was like, uhoh, our alarm bells starting to go off because you go three and out, and then you have you have five straight unsuccessful plays on offense between the first drive and the third quarter and the second drive and the third quarter, and then they figure it out. Then they figured out running the ball on the next drive, they score two more touchdowns, they get to 38 points. Great. But like the cracks were starting to show a little bit for Flacco early in this game. Wasn’t great to finish the game. Took a bad hit. Uh which isn’t his fault, but left the field altogether. Went into the locker room, came back out and and got back on the field for that final drive. But um going to be curious on tape to see how much there was like that that tunnel vision on Jamar Chase in this game. Felt like that was the case a couple times. T Higgins only with two targets in the game. that feels wrong. Despite like all the cool stuff they did from a scheme perspective, all the success they had in this game. Uh the the the way it finished, the the T. Higgins box score in retrospect. And again, I I don’t want to blame the offense too much for this one, but they did have chances in the second half to score more points. And you know, we’re in a po we’re we’re we’re in the same position we were in last year with Joe Burrow at quarterback where the offense really has to be perfect. Like 38 points not enough. They needed I I think I deleted the tweet before I tweeted. I was like, it’s crazy to feel like you need at least 41 points to win this game when when you had a a 3116 lead and a 3814 lead. That’s what they would have. 3824. Yeah. I mean, it it should have been over, but but let’s just go the other way. Let’s say it was the other way and the the Bengals rally and now they have the ball and it’s 3938 and they got to go score. Well, go score. And I know it’s about momentum and all those things, but like you you just have to you just in that moment, you have to. And guess what? They did it last week against the Steelers. They went and they got their points. And so I my fear really is that what happens? All right. So Jamar’s doubled, T’s doubled. Where are you going to go? And right now I don’t have the answer. Mike’s hurt. Andre Yosvage is off to a really poor start. This ground game was working, but you’re only going to be able to do so much of that. two-minute drill under a minute left. Especially, unless you’re the Jets, they probably would have been able to run it four times for a touchdown. So, there there’s a lot there’s so much more we have to get to this week, man. I mean, more with Zack, more on what this could mean for him. Like, obviously, I mean, there’s a lot I mean, there’s a lot here that I I’ I’ve tried really hard to not dive into yet because I know it’s meat on the bone for this week. It’s going to be a wild week. uh stick with us here, Bengals fans, because it’s uh I’m not going to say it’s going to be a fun week, but uh we’re going to definitely be able to uh vent with you because we have plenty of thoughts on it. Stuff that I wanted to get into weeks ago, honestly. And then they trade for Flaco, inject a little bit of life back into this thing, but they’ve only won one game since then. They started two and 0, one and five since then. It’s just it’s just not good enough. And like there’s small potatoes things we didn’t get to today either that I’m going to want to get to. the return game, kickoff return game. Yeah, that that last drive, Charlie Jones gets a 22 yard return to the 25. You get that out to the 35, which is a goal, that’s a touchdown, touchback distance, right? You try to get that out past the 30 and then maybe you’re in a position where you can play for a field goal. You’re on the right side of the 50. And maybe on that third and nine, if if that third and nine is at the Jets 49 or 45 instead of your own 45, then maybe you only need five yards. Maybe you don’t need to get the first down. you’re obviously trying to play to end the game and the the timeout situation is different, but you don’t need third and nine, fourth and nine conversions at that point. You have a chance to set up a a field goal potentially. So, like the return game, these are marginal things, but the return game, not good for them this week. And like I said, Isaiah Williams revenge game that extended to the kick coverage game, too, which still has been bad for the Bengals. So, it’s everything. Like we got the offense not finishing despite scoring 38 points, which again I’m not blaming the offense for this one. But the defense really melting down. The kick game has its own issues. Like everything is problematic right now. And and that goes to draft picks. It goes to the coaching staff. It goes to execution on the field. It goes to play calling on the field. And when you’re three and five after losing to the winless New York Jets, dropping a game in the division, it doesn’t even feel good to speculate about a Burrow return right now with the defense looking like it is because even if Burrow plays in this game, like maybe you can make an argument that those last couple drives go differently, but they scored 38 points and they lost those games last year with Joe Burrow and they lost it again today with the New York Jets as this defense remains just pathetic. Like I said, James, we’ll have more for the people this week. Yeah, it’s a good way to describe it. Pathetic. I think that’s the best word out of all the words. Well, there’s some other ones, but I’m not going to use them. Choice words being avoided here at the end of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. We’re back with you. We’ll have film to dive into. We’ll have ramifications to dive into. We’ll have how do we get here to dive into as the Bengals will try to rebound against the Bears going into the buy. That’s next. That’s this week on Lockdown Bengals. Until then, thanks for listening to this episode of the Locked on Bagels podcast.

The Cincinnati Bengals suffered one of, if not the worst loss of the Zac Taylor era on Sunday when they blew two second half leads and ultimately lost 39-38 to the New York Jets.

From Zac Taylor to Al Golden—an awful defense, Joe Flacco and EVERYTHING in between, James Rapien and Jake Liscow react to the loss, share their thoughts on the defense, the Bengals’ inability to do the basic things right and so much more!

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