CINCINNATI – Bengals players and coaches went into Sunday’s game against the Broncos wanting to do everything possible to ease the burden on Jeff Driskel in his first NFL start.
Instead, they made things harder at every turn.
All five starting offensive lineman had a penalty by halftime. Return man Alex Erickson, the most reliable and consistent player in a season that has been neither of those things, fumbled a punt to gift the Broncos a touchdown. The defense gave up its longest run in a run full of long ones. And A.J. Green, the ultimate security blanket for any quarterback, left on a cart and in tears early in the second quarter after appearing to re-injure the toe that forced him to miss the last three games.
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Driskel even had a hand in making things hard on himself with a grounding penalty deep in the red zone in addition to throwing a hope-and-pray interception inside the 10. It all added up to a 24-10 loss in a half-empty Paul Brown Stadium to extend one of the most miserable runs of the Marvin Lewis era.
“I’m disappointed with our football game today,” Lewis said after watching the team drop its fourth in a row and sixth in the last seven.
The only worse stretches in the Lewis era are the eight consecutive losses to open the 2008 season, and the 10-game losing streak in 2010.
“We have an opportunity to get things done, and we shot ourselves in the foot with the penalties we had today,” Lewis added, lamenting the biggest issue in an afternoon full of them.
One week after committing a season-high 13 penalties in a 35-20 loss to the Browns, the Bengals had 12 for a season-high 100 yards against the Broncos. Eight of the flags came in the first half, ruining any chance the Bengals had of capitalizing on the defensive playing as well as it has all year.
The Bengals forced the Broncos to punt on their first three possessions and caught a break on the fourth when Denver kicker Brandon McManus missed a 50-yard field goal.
Driskel, meanwhile, completed eight of his first 10 passes only to be faced with third and 16 on the opening series, third and 25 on the third drive and third and 35 on the fourth possession.
“It’s always tough when you get behind the sticks,” Driskel said. “We preached all week about being great on first- and second down and not setting ourselves back. As an offense, I thought we were in some tough spots. As a play-caller, when you’re third-and-long, that makes it really tough. There’s not that many calls on the sheet when you’re third and 10-plus. We didn’t give ourselves enough opportunity to really convert on third down, and that was tough.”
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Six of the eight penalties in the first half were on the offense, with one each against the defense and special teams.
Three of the offensive penalties not only came on the same series, they derailed the team’s best starting field position of the game after the McManus miss.
Starting at their own 40 with 7:23 left in the second quarter and the score tied 0-0, the Bengals went backward when right guard Alex Redmond got flagged for holding, turning second and 9 into second and 19.
Two plays later, left guard Trey Hopkins got whistled for a false start to turn third and 24 into third and 29. And on the next snap, center Billy Price drew a holding penalty on a Giovani Bernard 17-yard run, transforming third and 29 into third and 35.
“We were moving the ball and the all of a sudden therewas a holding or a false start and we’re behind the chains,” tight end C.J. Uzomah said. “It’s somewhat – I don’t want to say demoralizing, but you’re like, dang. Again. We’ve got to make up these penalty yards and some. It’s something we have to get corrected in a hurry, because we’re killing ourselves right now.
“Some of them are hustle penalties, and some of them are dumb penalties,” Uzomah added. “And I think we had too many dumb penalties today.”
A big reason for the false starts and holding penalties was presence of Denver’s Von Miller and Bradley Chubb screaming off the edges. They came into the game with the most combined sacks (20) among any teammates in the league, and they added to their total with Chubb getting one and Miller registering 1.5.
Chubb was on the verge of recording one when Driskel committed one of the most costly penalties of the day. On first and goal at the Denver 7, Driskel found Chubb in his face before he finished his drop and ended up firing the ball away while still in the pocket.
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Uzomah was in the vicinity, but Driskel flung the ball into the stands. The officials convened and called intentional grounding, forcing the Bengals into second and goal from the 17 with just 25 seconds left before halftime.
They ended up settling for a Randy Bullock field goal and went into the locker room down 7-3 rather than tied 7-7.
“In that situation, we knew we had points,” Driskel said. “We were down in the lower red zone. I was just telling myself, ‘No sacks here. Get the ball out.’ I thought there was somebody over there, but obviously they weren’t close enough.”
The second half was more of the same and then some. Hopkins got flagged for holding on the first snap of the third quarter, derailing the opening possession.
The defense forced another three and out – its third of the game – but Erickson struggled tracking the ball in the swirling wind and muffed the punt, giving the Broncos the ball at the Cincinnati 33.
“The wind was part of it, but that’s why I’m back there, to judge that correctly,” Erickson said. “The ball was just cutting and it slipped through my arm. I’ve got to find a way to squeeze it or at least get back on it when it hits the turf. I have to minimize the damage at all cost.”
The Broncos needed two plays to up their lead to 14-3 when quarterback Case Keenum went after rookie Darius Phillips on the cornerback’s second snap after replacing Dre Kirkpatrick, who suffered a left ankle injury and was in a walking boot after the game.
Driskel responded by hitting Tyler Boyd with passes of 23 and 20 yards to get into Denver territory. But on first down from the 30, the protection broke down again and Driskel made another ill-advised throw under duress, floating a deep shot that Denver safety Justin Simmons easily picked off at the 7.
“It was just a very poor decision,” Driskel said. “When you get under pressure like that, you have to be smart with the football, especially when you’re down there getting in position to score points. That was just a really poor decision, and it hurt our football team. Just a bad decision and a bad throw.”
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Four plays later, the Bengals defense cracked into old habits, allowing rookie Denver running back Phillip Lindsay to go untouched on a 65-yard touchdown run that buried the Bengals in a 21-3 hole.
It was one of the low points of the year for the Bengals defense, which is saying something for a unit that came into the game ranked 32nd in yards allowed, 31st in rushing yards allowed and 32nd in points allowed.
It was the longest run the Bengals have allowed all season, topping the 45-yarder Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey ripped off in Week 3.
“We can’t allow a run like we did today,” Lewis said.
But they did.
They couldn’t commit 12 penalties. But they did.
They couldn’t give up four sacks and nine quarterback hits, two of which led to turnovers. But they did.
They couldn’t afford to lose Green, Kirkpatrick and starting linebacker Vontaze Burfict (concussion) to injuries. But they did.
Instead of making things easier on Driskel, the Bengals did everything they could to ramp up the degree of difficulty.
Four games remain in a lost season. Driskel can only hope some help is on the way.
(Top image:David Kohl/USA TODAY Sports)
