Bengals' familiar problem cost them a trip to the playoffs
The Cincinnati Bengals bent as far as possible, but their 2023 season finally broke with a 25-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. A problem that has plagued them all year reared its ugly head once more to put the final nail in the coffin. While Cincinnati's offense went dormant in the final two periods […]
The Cincinnati Bengals bent as far as possible, but their 2023 season finally broke with a 25-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. A problem that has plagued them all year reared its ugly head once more to put the final nail in the coffin.
While Cincinnati's offense went dormant in the final two periods with zero points and one trip to the red zone, the defense gave Kansas City's struggling offense life by allowing SIX explosive plays that totaled 225 yards, per ESPN Stats & Info.
It started on the Chiefs' first drive of the day, when a Noah Gray reception and an Isiah Pacheco run put up 72 yards alone, setting up the only Chiefs' touchdown of the afternoon.
After settling down to close the first half, Patrick Mahomes found more success down the field. Down 17-13, Mahomes connected with Justin Watson for 41 yards, and a shorter pass to Rashee Rice gained 24 more yards to set up one of Harrison Butker's six field goals on the day.
The Chiefs slowly impeded on the Bengals' lead thanks to the leg of Butker, one of the best kickers in the league, and the Bengals never had a response from their offense. A disastrous 4th-and-1 play erased their lone chance at points in the final two periods as they followed that with three straight punts and failed to get points on the final drive of the game.
Explosives kept coming on the other side of the ball as Cam Taylor-Britt got smoked on an inside release vs. Rice, which paved the way to a 67-yard play.
Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo gets props for making the calls that stopped drives like that from ending in a touchdown, but to allow so many big plays from an offense that's been constipated over the last several weeks, it's a damning end to a disappointing season.
The Bengals have one more game to officially close the 2023 season out, but with the playoffs now out of the picture, it's truly on to 2024 for Cincinnati.
