The Bengals struggled in year one of the Joe Burrow era. How did it all unfold?
2020 record: 4-11-1
- Division record: 1-5
- Record against teams with winning records: 2-7
The biggest problem with the Bengals in terms of win/loss over the past few years, has been the lack of success within the division. Since 2018, Cincy is 3-15 against the AFC North. That means they get out of division play with an average of 5 losses a year and another 10 games to be played.
So if the Bengals kept at this pace, they would need to go 8-2 each year against the rest of the NFL just to finish 9-7. Obviously, that is not realistic for any team especially a team with holes in certain areas of the roster.
For the Bengals to really turn things around, they are going to have to be far more competitive within the division.
Team Ranks:
| Total Offense | 29th (5116 yards) |
| Passing Offense | 27th (3448 yards) |
| Rushing Offense | 24th (1668 yards) |
| Total Defense | 26th (6227 yards allowed) |
| Passing Defense | 19th (3859 yards allowed) |
| Rushing Defense | 29th (2368 yards allowed) |
| PPG | 29th (19.4) |
| PPG Allowed | 22nd (26.5) |
| Offensive Line Ranks | |
| PFF | 30th |
| Football Outsiders (Adjusted run yards) | 31st (3.89) |
| Football Outsiders (Adjusted sack rate) | 24th (7.6%) |
| 2020 Offense Play Selection |
| Pass – 60.5% |
| Rush – 39.5% |
| PFF Top 5 Graded Players in 2020 |
| 1. Jessie Bates III S (90.1) |
| 2. Samaje Perine RB (76.7) |
| 3. Tee Higgins WR (75.9) |
| 4. Tyler Boyd WR (75.8) |
| 5. Joe Burrow QB (75.1) |
Leading Passer: Joe Burrow (10 games played)
- 2,688 passing yards
- 13 passing touchdowns
- 5 interceptions
Leading Rusher: Joe Mixon (6 games played)
- 428 rushing yards
- 3 rushing touchdowns
- 3.6 YPC
Leading Receiver: Tee Higgins
- 908 receiving yards
- 6 touchdowns
- 13.6 yards per reception
Defensive MVP: Jessie Bates III
- 109 tackles
- 3 interceptions
- 3 forced fumbles
How long did they hang in the playoff race until?
Week 10. Again with these teams that were not successful, we are giving them the benefit of the doubt in terms of how long they truly hung in the race. You don’t want to cross off any teams until they face a situation in which they have to win 5-6 in a row just to get to 9 wins.
But in Week 8, the Bengals were able to notch an upset victory over the Tennessee Titans. Going into Week 10, they were 2-5-1 with a matchup against Pittsburgh looming. Unfortunately for Cincy fans, the Steelers dominated this game and sent the Bengals on a 5 game losing streak.
The Bengals did get to exact their revenge late in the season, pulling off a massive upset against Pittsburgh on MNF.
Story of the season: Inability to keep Joe Burrow healthy
Joe Burrow broke out in 2019 as one of the more incredible breakout stories we have seen in a while. He was off the radar in terms of top QB prospects until he led LSU to what was the greatest college football season I have ever seen.
But in year one with the Bengals, he had to work within a drastically different situation. The biggest problem was the amount of sacks he was taking week in and week out.
Burrow was sacked 32 times overall in just 10 games. Despite not finishing the season, that was good enough to place Burrow in the top 10 for most times sacked over the course of the 2020 season.
And of course, the play in which he tore his ACL happened when he was hit as he threw the ball by Jonathan Allen.
The Bengals did deal with a lot of injuries to skill players outside of Burrow as well with Joe Mixon and AJ Green also missing significant time. For the Bengals to have success with Burrow, their main focus must be to keep his hit numbers down and health stable.
What did you think of the Bengals’ season in 2020? Let me know on Twitter @James_Costanz.
