It was a night for the Cincinnati Bengals to honor toughness and grit at Paycor Stadium.
But the celebration was limited solely to the halftime show on Monday, when the Bengals inducted Tim Krumrie and Corey Dillon into the franchise’s ring of honor.
This current bunch of Bengals are nothing like those tough guys. The Bengals are soft and full of themselves – and it’s put their season on the brink of disaster long before the first frost of the fall.
Bengals in 'frustrating' spot after another loss vs Commanders
Cincinnati remains winless after a listless 38-33 loss to the Washington Commanders. The Bengals were treated to a smattering of boos as they were embarrassed in front a national TV audience by yet another unheralded team on their turf. You're left wondering if the locker room is on the verge of fracturing, as this core group of players hasn't collectively faced much adversity.
Time for everyone in this town, including those guys in the freshly remodeled Paycor Stadium locker room, to get a grip on reality: The Bengals aren’t very good. And the oh-crap-and-three Bengals face long odds to make the playoffs. Since 1979, only six teams have made the playoffs after starting 0-3.
"Frustrating" is how Bengals coach Zac Taylor summed it up. "We didn't envision ourselves in this spot, but here we are," he said. "We've got to own it. We have to take accountability in all areas."
Remember all that talk about the Bengals having a weak schedule out of the gate? Weren’t the hometown homers saying this could be a Super Bowl team? Lol.
How about win a game first.
And while you’re at it, maybe stop the run and a rookie quarterback. And maybe shut up, too.
Jayden Daniels vs Bengals stats
Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels carved up the Bengals. In his third career game, Daniels passed for 254 yards and two touchdowns. Only two of his 23 passes fell to the ground.
His 55-yard bomb to Terry McLaurin late in the first half was particularly noteworthy. It set up the Commanders with a first-and-goal. Daniels ran into the end zone untouched on the next play, and Washington took a commanding 21-10 lead.
On the longest pass play of the game, McLaurin burned Cam Taylor-Britt. The Bengals cornerback poked fun at the Commanders' offense while talking to reporters last week, saying it was a "nice college offense." The Bengals didn't force that "college offense" to punt one time.
Taylor-Britt's comments came a week after he talked trash in an interview about Kansas City rookie receiver Xavier Worthy. The same week, Bengals receiver Ja'Marr Chase boasted that "everybody knows" Cincinnati is "the team to beat in the AFC."
Yeah, not quite.
Bengals slow start in NFL with Joe Burrow
Bengals players and coaches have talked a lot about overcoming slow starts before. But you can't assume you can turn it on when you want. The league is too competitively balanced. And teams have adjusted to the Bengals, who still seem to be living off the glory of the Super Bowl run and return to the AFC Championship game in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
The Bengals entered this season way too comfortable, especially for a team that missed the playoffs in 2023. They assumed because quarterback Joe Burrow made it through training camp fully healthy, they were going to run right through an easy schedule and race to the playoffs.
The Bengals believed they'd go no worse than 3-1 in September. That plan was blown to hell when they blew the home opener to the rebuilding New England Patriots. The Bengals let some running back you'd never heard of rush for 120 yards and a touchdown that day. Cincinnati had 14 missed tackles, the most since Taylor took over in 2019.
Tough teams don't miss that many tackles.
Bengals vs Commanders game stats
The Commanders came to town after not scoring a touchdown last week. Washington still defeated the New York Giants on seven field goals. The Commanders darn near had that many touchdowns against the Bengals, whose defensive line is decimated by injuries and short on talent.
Tough teams don't give up five touchdowns at home to a team led by a rookie quarterback.
The Bengals now face a must-win situation this weekend in Carolina. That's certainly no longer a gimme after former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton led the lowly Panthers to an upset win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. Nothing is a gimme for this Bengals team.
And they haven't even faced anyone really good yet besides the Chiefs. The Bengals still have four games against Pittsburgh and Baltimore. Those are tough teams because they have tough coaches who prepare their teams in the preseason for the 17-game grind.
The Bengals, meanwhile, continue to think the season starts in late September.
They're finally finding out that's too late.
Contact columnist Jason Williams at jwilliams@enquirer.com
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Williams: Remember Super Bowl talk about Cincinnati Bengals? LOL. How about win a game
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