Joe Burrow might not have been within earshot when running back Chase Brown unloaded on the Cincinnati Bengals’ defense. Still, he probably heard what Brown said following Cincinnati’s 47-42 Week 9 loss to the Chicago Bears.
“We just have to play complementary football,” Brown said. “We put the ball in the end zone and go up a point at the end, finish the f–king game, just end it. That’s what we need to do, just end the f–king game.
“That’s how I feel,” he added to punctuate his point, as though there was any question about what he was thinking in the moment.
Joe Flacco had thrown for 470 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions in the loss. The 41-year-old quarterback, playing in place of Burrow after his Week 1 injury, had hit Andrei Iosivas for a touchdown to put the Bengals up 47-42 with 49 seconds left, and they still lost.
Brown wasn’t alone in his frustration with Cincinnati’s defense. Cameras caught Ja’Marr Chase saying “one f—ing stop” as he left the building.
It was Cincinnati’s sixth loss in seven games. The Bengals had started 2-0, but Minnesota blew them out in Week 3, sending them reeling. They were 3-8 by the time Burrow returned.
Burrow led the Bengals to a 32-14 win in Baltimore in his first game back. However, as the Vikings learned this year, any team that is 4-8 entering December isn’t going to reach the playoffs. Cincinnati only won two more games all year, finishing 6-11 and leaving Burrow disgruntled.
In December, when reporters in Cincinnati asked Burrow if he could see himself playing for another franchise, he responded, “A lot of crazy things happen every year.”
On Tuesday, Bengals beat reporter Paul Dehner Jr. said that Burrow is putting significant pressure on Cincinnati’s front office to improve the defense.
He’s changed the way they’ve made decisions around here in recent years. And his lack of happiness, whether he says it’s cause he had a bad day at a press conference or not, has major influence inside of the building. He called this free agency ‘”paramount.’”… He’s certainly done more than just lay the groundwork on, ‘“f I’m not happy here, I don’t plan on staying here.”
Improving Cincinnati’s defense will be a Herculean task. The Bengals gave up 380.9 yards per game, 31st in the league, between the Dallas Cowboys (377 yards, 30th) and the Washington Commanders (384 yards, 32nd).
Minnesota hung 42 points on the Bengals in Week 3, Carson Wentz’s first start in place of J.J. McCarthy after McCarthy suffered a high ankle sprain. Then, McCarthy torched the Commanders and the Cowboys late in the season.
The Bengals will have to build their defense through free agency and the draft this offseason. Trey Hendrickson (82.9 Pro Football Focus grade) was Cincinnati’s best defensive player last year, and he’s a free agent. DJ Turner II (73.3) is the only other player with a PFF grade above 70.
As the Vikings learned last year, it’s difficult to build a team through free agency. Even if the Bengals draft well, they need to upgrade at least six spots on their defense. B.J. Hill (68.6 PFF grade), Dax Hill (64.9), and Joseph Ossai (64) are servicable, but they’ll have to improve at almost every other position.
Cincinnati must have a disastrous offseason for the Vikings to land Joe Burrow. The Bengals would have to succumb to Burrow’s pressure, make panic deals for defensive players, and many of the signings would have to bust. At the end of the season, they’d have to conclude that a reset is necessary and look to cash in on Burrow, 29.
It’s still a pipe dream for the Vikings, and Burrow isn’t going anywhere in a year. Minnesota’s best bet is still to develop McCarthy or find a serviceable veteran to assure Justin Jefferson doesn’t want out after next season. Still, there’s a way to reunite Justin Jefferson and Joe Burrow if J.J. McCarthy doesn’t progress next season. It starts with the Bengals panic-signing defensive players hoping to keep Burrow happy.