The Cincinnati Bengals suffered from a plethora of problems in their 16-10 season-opening loss to the New England Patriots. The list of issues was long, and hopefully the team is able to address all of them before the Week 2 showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs. But, some are probably more pressing than others. Here’s a look at the three biggest problems that the Bengals need to fix as soon as possible.
Turnovers
The first problem that the Bengals need to fix is an obvious one. They need to take better care of the football. Cincinnati had three fumbles in Week 1 against New England, and two of them proved to be very costly as they lost them both. One came when Tanner Hudson lost the ball at the goal line late in the first half as the team was in position to score a touchdown. The other came courtesy of Charlie Jones early in the third quarter after the defense had just held New England’s offense to a three-and-out.
Cincinnati lost the turnover battle against New England 2-0, and that can’t afford to do that again against a team as good as the Chiefs. The Bengals will need to capitalize on their opportunities — and not give Kansas City extra ones — if they want to win and avoid an 0-2 start.
Run defense
Run defense was an issue for Cincinnati last season, and that problem carried over to the first week of the 2024 campaign. The Bengals allowed New England to run it down their throat to the tune of 170 rushing yards in Week 1, and that production was a major factor in the victory. It doesn’t take an expert to know that’s too many rushing yards to give up, especially against a team that doesn’t have an elite running back (no offense to Rhamondre Stevenson, who hung 120 yards on Cincinnati).
The Chiefs have a dangerous back in Isiah Pacheco, which is cause for concern. If Cincinnati’s defense struggles against Kansas City’s ground game in Week 2, it will only work to open things up for Patrick Mahomes and the air attack. So, the Bengals need to figure out a way to tighten things up up front or else things could get ugly quickly in Kansas City.
Run offense
Just like stopping the run was an issue for the defense in Week 1, establishing their own running game was also a problem for the Bengals. Cincinnati was out-gained by a 100 yards on the ground, as the Bengals mustered just 70 total rushing yards on 16 attempts.
Zack Moss averaged a respectable 4.9 yards per carry against New England, but he only got nine carries. There’s no reason for a starting running back not to get double-digit attempts, at least. The Bengals need to do a better job of at least trying to establish their own running game against Kansas City. Doing so will open things up for the rest of the offense and make things easier for Joe Burrow.
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