What a start to the season for the Cincinnati Bengals, they are 2-0 for the first time since 2006. In week one, the Bengals beat Joe Flacco and his Baltimore Ravens 23-16 thanks to a beautiful 77-yard touchdown from wide reciever AJ Green. They followed that up with a 24-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons and Matt Ryan. You can’t ask for anything better than that, and every win, even early in the season just improves your team’s chances of making the postseason and getting a strong seed.
Bengals Show their Claws with Strong Start
The Bengals have also won these games despite a number of injuries that are piling up. Right now some of the biggest injuries that could potentially have a negative effect on the Bengals include defensive tackle Geno Atikins (feet), linebacker Vontaze Burfict (concussion), defensive end Carlos Dunlap (hamstring), tight end Tyler Eifert (elbow), wide receiver Marvin Jones (foot) and star wide receiver AJ Green (foot). Many of the injuries aren’t too severe with only Marvin Jones and Tyler Eifert confirmed as being out for the Bengals week 3 matchup against the Tennessee Titans. However the Bengals will have to re-evaluate these players this week and have to be careful that they don’t rush players back as it would would be devastating to see the injuries get worse and to lose players like Green, or Atkins for a long time.
The Bengals have an early bye week in week 4 of the season, which could be perfect for the team, and allow these players to heal their bumps and bruises. The only issue would be that they won’t get another if injuries pile up late in the season. Following last year’s week 12 bye week, the Bengals were able to win four of their last five games as they marched to the playoffs. While they won’t get that luxury, the Bengals have already proven to be a deep team that can win even without some key pieces.
This season is also the year of the new coordinators, with Hue Jackson as the offensive coordinator taking Jay Grudens old spot and Paul Guenther take the reins of defensive coordinator left by Mike Zimmer. Through two weeks things have been so far so good in both of these spots.
Andy Dalton may have only thrown two touchdown passes, but he hasn’t been intercepted yet, and the offensive line hasn’t even let Dalton get hit on a pass attempt this season. The line has given him plenty of time to throw and given running lanes for backs Giovanni Bernard and Jeremy Hill. Add in the receiving options of Green, Sanu, Jones (when he’s healthy) and Bernard as throwing options, and its clear that Dalton and Jackson have a lot to work with.
On the defensive side with Burfict not 100% (although he still has 6 tackles) Emmanuel Lamur has stepped up his game with 10 tackles and 8 assists in only two games, which were basically his totals in 9 games last season.
So far everything is working out for the Bengals and as long as they can keep up the smart play, avoid the injury bug and off field distractions then this could be another great season for Cincinnati. The goal this year is clearly not just to make the playoffs, but get some postseason wins with Dalton, but before we go any further than that, the Bengals will try to keep the good run going as they face the Titans in week 3.
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