It’s been a disaster for the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense ever since Joe Burrow left their Week 2 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars injured.
On the surface, Cincinnati has loads of talent, with wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins headlining the offense. But all of it is for naught if the quarterback play is going to be as bad as it’s been.
On Monday, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was noncommittal when asked who would start under center on Sunday.
It shouldn’t matter for Green Bay.
The Bengals trailed 28-3 in the fourth quarter on Sunday against the Detroit Lions before piling up some garbage-time points to make the final score look less embarrassing at 37-24. Jake Browning led the Bengals on three consecutive touchdown drives in the final frame. Still, the damage had already been done, and Cincinnati got no closer than an 11-point deficit.
Before the fourth quarter barrage, Browning had already thrown three interceptions. And if you go back and watch all three, it’s hard to blame anyone other than Browning.
A viral screenshot on X showed that Chase had three tackles in the game. They all came courtesy of the three interceptions from Browning. At one point, Chase was second on the team in tackles with three and had only four receptions. That’s a sign of pure disaster.
Browning didn’t inspire a lick of confidence in the weeks prior, either.
Cincinnati was coming off a 28-3 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 4 and a 48-10 Week 3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. If the Bengals want to grasp at straws, they could point to putting up 24 points against the Lions. The truth is that 21 came with the game well out of reach.
As a result, Taylor wouldn’t commit to starting Browning this Sunday against the Packers.
Like all personnel decisions, we’ve got to evaluate it. Jake’s been very accountable for how the game went for him. I’ve got to be accountable for how the game went for me as well. And so we’ll continue to progress here through the day. These are things that we talk about every single Monday and Tuesday. So we’ll evaluate a lot of positions.
Taylor did note he expects to have the starter in place by Wednesday’s practice.
The words from Taylor were a slight change from what the head coach said immediately following the loss to the Lions, when he sounded more supportive of moving forward with Browning.
Of course, after a game like that, we’re going to look at all personnel to make sure we’re doing the right thing. So I won’t shy away from that, because it’s a very fair question after the amount of turnovers we’ve had, but to say that I don’t think Jake can win games for us. I believe Jake can win games, and we’ll just continue to look at everything we can personnel wise.
The issue for the Bengals is that they’re already on their backup quarterback. The options behind Browning aren’t any better. Brett Rypien is the current backup to Browning. Mike White and Sean Clifford — yes, that Sean Clifford — are on Cincinnati‘s practice squad.
Rypien hasn’t started a game since 2023 and has a 2-2 record as a starter in his career, with four touchdowns and nine interceptions at age 29. White hasn’t started a game since 2022 and brings to the table a record of 2-5 with nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Then there’s Clifford, who couldn’t beat out Michael Pratt for the backup gig in Green Bay last year and has never started a game in his career.
All of it adds up to a disastrous situation for the Bengals with no good answer in sight. And that puts the Packers in a highly advantageous spot.
At 2-3 in a division where the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns are 1-4 and Pittsburgh is 3-1 but potentially shaky, why not make a play for Jameis Winston if you’re serious about contending in a season without Burrow?
For this Sunday, that option isn’t in play. Browning, at least, has been honest in the assessment of his own play.
A lot of people in that locker room played winning football today. I did not. You throw three picks in the NFL, you’re going to lose… Everybody’s been very supportive, but at the end of the day this is a results business and I need to play better. I threw three picks that were bad. There’s no hiding from that. Bad decisions. Bad ball placement.
If it’s Browning again on Sunday, the Packers will hope the reckless decision-making continues. If it’s not Browning, Rypien, White, or Clifford, they won’t exactly strike fear into Jeff Hafley’s defense.
It shouldn’t matter who the starter is on Sunday for the Bengals; the Packers should feast.