If anyone felt like they had déjà vu after yesterday afternoon’s game, they wouldn’t be the only one. Besides the lack of interceptions thrown by Joe Burrow (thank goodness), the Bengals played an almost identical game of football this week against the Cowboys as they did against the Steelers in week one.

The biggest difference for the Bengals between week one and week two was their defensive performance. Unlike last week, the defense didn’t play that well. On the first drive, the Cowboys only had one third down play, which wasn’t converted for the first down. The Cowboys went for it on fourth and two and ended up getting 17 extra yards. They went on to score a touchdown which was the beginning to another long game.

Unfortunately the offense wasn’t any better. It's no secret that the Bengals offensive line struggled once again. Burrow was sacked six times yesterday, totaling 13 sacks on the season. It’s only week two, and he’s on pace to be sacked 111 times this season, which is unacceptable. The Bengals reportedly spent around $70 million on a new offensive line in the offseason to combat the 51 sacks Burrow took in the regular season last year, but so far that money seems wasted. 

The offensive line isn’t the only one to blame for these sacks. When he does have time in the pocket, Burrow waits for his routes to develop, which can cause him a lot of problems, especially because he isn’t known for running when he doesn’t have open receivers. Instead of making a play himself, he accepts the sack, which isn’t what you want in a quarterback. Burrow did have a few big runs this week which helped his team convert the first down by way of penalties against the Cowboys defense. The Bengals went into halftime down 17-3 for the second week in a row. 

Just like last week, the Bengals came out to fight in the second half. They scored two field goals in their first two possessions of the half and the defense was finally stopping the Cowboys offense, even forcing a fumble in the third quarter. Unfortunately the offense couldn’t capitalize on this turnover, punting the ball three plays later. 

The offense finally scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, with Burrow hitting Tee Higgins for a 5-yard touchdown. They converted the two point attempt to tie the game. It looked like it was going to overtime for the second week in a row. But the Cowboys had other plans.

The Bengals defense decided to go back to their first half ways and allowed 33 yards in 33 seconds. The Cowboys were able to kick a 50-yard field goal as time expired, winning the game 20-17. 

Burrow finished the game 24-36 with 199 yards and one touchdown. Tee Higgins, who was questionable throughout the week after suffering a concussion in the first half of last week’s game, was the leading receiver with 6 receptions for 71 yards. Not an impressive game for a Super Bowl hopeful team.

When asked about whether he’s concerned about the team’s performance in the first two games of the season, head coach Zac Taylor replies, “No, because people are gonna look back at two games last year and say something very similar.” Obviously no coach will say they are concerned about how their team is playing, but it is encouraging to hear Zac Taylor be confident in his team through tough losses.

If the Bengals want to win next week against the Jets, they need to come out to play for all 60 minutes of the game, not just the 30 minutes after halftime. The Jets will be riding high following an impressive comeback win against the Browns in Cleveland yesterday, so the Bengals need to step it up if they want to save their season.

Up Next:

Cincinnati Bengals (0-2)  @ New York Jets (1-1), 9/25 @ 1:00 on CBS