CINCINNATI — There isn’t much time to sulk and assess blame for what went down Sunday at Paycor Stadium.
The locker room was cleared out early Monday as players got their treatment early and then went home to maximize their recovery for a compressed Tuesday of film, meetings and a nighttime walkthrough.
Monday was a day for head coach Zac Taylor and coordinators Lou Anarumo and Brian Callahan to assess Sunday and look ahead to Baltimore.
The Bengals have to regroup on a very short week and hope to be mentally ready to take on the first-place Baltimore Ravens on the road Thursday night.
The physical part? Well, everyone knows playing on three days rest is one of the worst ideas the NFL has come up with in the last 30 years, right up there with travel to Europe to play in front of many fans that view the sport as a fun sideshow more than a passion.
While the players are trying to get their bodies right, the coaches are trying to put together a game plan and completely wash out the taste from Sunday from their mouths. It does help they are facing a Ravens team with whom they’re very familiar.
“Well, there’s a lot of work ahead of us,” Taylor told me Monday. “You’ve got to cram a whole game plan into really about two and a half days. And so the team’s got to understand that. We walked off the field Sunday, it was a Wednesday afternoon, post-practice is really the point of the week you’re at. And so, you’ve got to get your bodies right after a physical long game like we had.
“Baltimore had the same thing. I mean, it really similar styles of games that were just played. And our guys have to get themselves ready and our coaches gotta do a good job preparing them in a short span this week.”
This week is terrible on the bodies of all involved. And yes, every NFL team has to go through it but still, it’s especially brutal for a team like the Bengals already trying to cope with injuries to several of their key players.
To wit, Trey Hendrickson is almost certainly out for Thursday’s game with a hyperextended left knee when Noah Brown did his final damage of the afternoon, rolling on the ground and into Hendrickson just prior to the game-winning field goal.
Sam Hubbard missed Sunday and is a big question mark for Thursday in Baltimore with an ankle injury. Tee Higgins missed Sunday and may not be available again with a hamstring injury suffered last Wednesday in practice. And Andrei Iosivas is dealing with a knee injury that could certainly impact his availability.
On top of that, top corner Cam Taylor-Britt, already dealing with a barking quad issue, is being asked to get his body ready and play while Chido Awuzie reappeared on the injury list on Monday with a knee issue.
Obviously, it’s the NFL and it’s a war of attrition. Everyone knows that. But how the Bengals respond to that Thursday night could likely determine if they have a realistic chance at their third straight AFC North crown.
Hubbard’s absence was certainly felt in Sunday’s loss, where the Bengals allowed 17 explosive plays, tied for fourth-most in the NFL since 2000.
The Houston Texans offense recorded 17 explosive plays today against the Bengals. Tied for 4th-most explosive plays by an offense in an NFL game since 2000.
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) November 12, 2023
“Yeah, he’s, he’s irreplaceable in that position,” Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said. “The other guys will have to step up and it’s not that they did poorly. Everybody has their hand in that in the run game.
“It’s a D-line up front, the linebackers fitting it a little bit quicker and harder, and then the safeties and corners crack replacing, that’s a big, big part of it. And we didn’t do a great job at any of those things. We had it settled down the run game. That is it. And then (Sunday), it got away from us.”
Myles Murphy, Cam Sample and Joseph Ossai were respectable Sunday in their edge setting but they often had little to no support behind them, as Anarumo pointed out. That’s a “gotta have” Thursday against a power team like the Ravens or that 17 number could be approached on runs alone.
Losing Hendrickson would certainly mean Myles Murphy is going to see more playing time.
Myles Murphy says he texted with Trey Hendrickson and Hendrickson told him he has faith in him. pic.twitter.com/CSEPz4SJ1O
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) November 13, 2023
It wasn’t all bad Sunday. The Bengals defense showed they can make adjustments and learn from mistakes in technique. After the game, Cam Taylor-Britt said his interception was the result of an adjustment he made on Tank Dell, cutting under a route when he was reading Dell in the short flat. Lou Anarumo confirmed this Monday.
“For sure. It was a heck of a play, undercut it at the right time and what a huge (play),” Anarumo said. “I mean, got us right back in the game and we were able to score right away. It wasn’t pretty, but at the end of the day, we had a chance to win the game and we just didn’t.”
Let's GO#HOUvsCIN | 📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/dvHN4SHXM2
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 12, 2023
Offensively, the Bengals simply cannot afford to have five consecutive drives that end in punts on Thursday night when possessions are so limited against Baltimore.
“I didn’t think there had been that many three and outs the weeks before. We’d done a good job at least moving the ball before we punted, if that was the case,” Taylor said. “But (Sunday), we just didn’t get in good rhythm. I didn’t put us in a good rhythm.
“After that first drive in the first half, we didn’t do enough to put points on the board and take the pressure off our defense. And then they went down and scored before the half, kicked the field goal coming out of the half. So they got those two possessions there and, just should have been able to put us in position to do a better job in the first half.”
Callahan knows his offense has to answer the bell against the No. 2 defense in the NFL in terms of yards allowed (273.6/game). That stat didn’t mean much to the Cleveland Browns Sunday, who rallied from deficits of 17-3 and 31-17 to claim a 33-31 win.
“We had three possessions in the first half in the last game,” Callahan said, referring to the 27-24 loss in Week 2. “We had seven total. That’s tough. That’s a slog. And every possession’s critical. Every play ends up critical. And it’s, you gotta balance not trying to press and do too much in the moment when you know that you only have X amount of opportunities in a game.
“But, that’s the challenge against playing these guys is staying patient enough, but just knowing that it’s gonna be that type of game. Usually when we play ’em, it’s gonna come down to probably, the last possession or two. It’s usually how all these games against have gone. And, you’re just mentally ready for it. It’s gonna be a battle. There’s a lot on the line for these games coming up. I think it feels like a playoff game in November.”
