CINCINNATI (WKRC) – Coming off the morning walkthrough on Wednesday for a lunch break prior to that afternoon’s practice, Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher told reporters he had a sour taste in his mouth, but it didn’t come from anything he ate. Pitcher didn’t like his unit’s performance in the second half of Sunday’s 17-16 win at the Cleveland Browns. He is looking for better results this week when the Bengals play their home opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars and explained how that can be obtained.

The Bengals had a scant seven yards and a lone first down in the second half, while compiling a downright awful minus-18 yards in the fourth quarter. That came after a first half in which the Bengals scored touchdowns on two of their three full drives and moved into Browns territory on the other before punting.

“I thought we got in a rhythm,” Pitcher said about the first half. “We were efficient on early downs that led to really good production on third down, a couple of extended drives. Even the one didn’t end in points we got in plus territory there and (Browns defensive end) Myles (Garrett) made a play as Joe is escaping. Really only three drives, which you know in the back of your mind it has a chance to be that kind of game. You get the opening kickoff and the next time we touch the ball isn’t until 12 minutes to go in the second quarter. That’s OK, it’s what it is. I thought our guys responded well, so that was the good part.”

Then came the bad part – the second half.

“The early down efficiency went away and we struggled on third down,” said Pitcher. “Really there are three plays outside the numbers where if we make one of them we feel better coming out of it. We didn’t make any of them. They’re tough plays, they’re not easy plays to make. The defender made a good play on the one to Tee (Higgins). I thought Tee did everything he could to stay inbounds on that one. (Browns cornerback Greg) Newsome made a strong play on the ball to Ja’Marr. None of this occurs in a vacuum. We’re playing a really good defense. The scheme is tailored toward their people. They play aggressively. They’re a challenge. They got the better of us in the second half.”

Perhaps not enough has been made of how tough of a matchup the Browns are for the Bengals, especially in Cleveland. The last three meetings in Cleveland the Bengals gained 141 total yards (this year), 223 total yards (last year) and 142 total yards (in 2023).

“They’re a good defense,” said Pitcher. “They got a truly elite player (Garrett). When you play an opponent that has a truly elite player, and not just a token word elite, because the guy is the best at his job, that effects how you play. We don’t have to see him for four months and when we do see him we’ll take stock of where we’re at at that point and try to put the best plan together to go have success.”

The Browns also have cornerbacks capable of playing man coverage, and quarterback Joe Burrow and his receivers couldn’t take advantage of that.

“We had good stuff called and against those guys you’re going to get one-on-one opportunities both up front and on the perimeter and we didn’t take advantage of any of those opportunities in the second half,” said Burrow. “If you want to be a great offense in the NFL, you have to win your one-on-one battles and in the second half we didn’t.”

Burrow, who completed 14 of 23 passes for 113 yards in the game, but was 3 of 9 for 25 yards in the second half, lamented not scrambling more either to run or create unscripted plays in the passing game.

“I think I could have used my legs a little more in those situations, recognize man (coverage), and try to get out of the pocket, but at the end of the day we got to make one-on-one plays in big spots,” Burrow said. “I think I’m going to be a little more aggressive to maybe get out of pocket and make some plays.”

The good news is while Sunday’s offensive performance left a lot to be desired, this offense has been among the best in the NFL in the last four seasons. Perhaps this should be chalked up to a bad matchup and poor execution.

“It’s just, you go a long time without playing real football that matters, and so that’s everybody, that’s coaches, that’s players, so there’s obviously a settling in that occurs,” said Pitcher. “Whether it be Joe or any of our other guys, or myself or any of our other coaches, that’s just, I think it’s a natural thing. That’s a human thing.”

The offense has a chance to rectify things this Sunday.

“What I hope happens is we are efficient on early downs, we convert manageable third downs, we have some sustained drives, we’re able to convert on explosive plays when the opportunities present, and when we get in the red zone, we score touchdowns,” said Pitcher. “If we do all that, you’re going to score a lot of points. It’s a good opponent coming in here who’s going to pose a big challenge, so we’ll see how it plays out, but we’re excited to have a chance to do that.”

Said Burrow: “You got to go and prove it. You got to go out and make those plays. We’ve made those plays in the past. We didn’t on Sunday and so we have to go prove once again, just like every year, every week that we can beat those kinds of players to make big time contested plays in those situations, myself included. So I’m looking forward to going out and proving it on Sunday.”