Analysis: 3 takeaways from the Bengals’ Week 1 win in Cleveland

Cleveland’s new kicker, Andre Szmyt, missed a PAT after the Browns opened the second half with a touchdown drive to take a 16-14 lead, and he later missed a 36-yard field goal that also could have been the difference. Cincinnati had not won an opener since 2021.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Slow start for the offense

The Bengals offense looked rusty, despite a solid preseason and a full training camp with all the skill position players participating.

Joe Burrow led them down the field for a touchdown on the opening drive, capped by a Chase Brown 5-yard run, and Burrow followed with his first touchdown pass of the season in the second quarter. However, the Bengals managed only three points and 7 net yards in the second half. They had minus-18 yards in the fourth quarter.

Burrow finished with just 113 yards passing, only slightly better than the 82 yards he threw for against the Browns in the 2023 opener, which occurred during a heavy downpour. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins had quiet days as well, though Higgins led the team with 33 yards on three catches.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Cleveland’s pass rush wasn’t an issue until one drive in the fourth quarter when Burrow was sacked on three straight plays, twice by Myles Garrett. Dalton Risner, who signed less than two weeks ago, was forced into action early in the second quarter when Lucas Patrick exited with a right calf injury, but all three sacks came from the edges.

Burrow has always been a slow starter, so it’s not concerning but the Bengals were doing everything they could to make it look different in Week 1.

2. Defense gets it done

The defense still has something to prove, but Sunday was a good start toward changing the narrative after a poor 2024 seemed to spill into the preseason.

Players and coaches insisted that training camp practices, where the defense was making plays against one of the best offenses in the league, were a better indication of what to expect than preseason games. The Bengals were trying not to show too much of new defensive coordinator Al Golden’s scheme, but that didn’t explain the missed tackles on display in the six series starters played.

It looked a lot different Sunday, but against a Cleveland team that had the worst passing offense in the league last year and now is led by 40-year-old Flacco at quarterback. The Bengals now will need to show it wasn’t just a bad opponent.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Jordan Battle and DJ Turner, who was splitting snaps with Josh Newton, both picked off deflected passes in the second half, and the Bengals got third-down stops to force a punt and a field goal that Szmyt missed from 36 yards. Battle, starting in Week 1 for the first time in his third season, led with 12 tackles, while rookie Demetrius Knight added 10 and new nickel corner Dax Hill had 9. BJ Hill and Trey Hendrickson each had a sack and a tackle for loss.

Penalties were an issue early in the game, as the Bengals had five for 23 yards on Cleveland’s first touchdown drive. They cleaned that up with just two more the rest of the way.

3. A significant result

Burrow pointed out in his postgame press conference that the Bengals weren’t winning these games last year, and that is probably the most significant takeaway. Cincinnati will need to win games in a lot of different ways, Burrow said, and this time, it came from the defense and a couple lucky breaks the Browns gifted.

In 2024, seven of the Bengals’ eight losses were decided by a touchdown or less. If one of those went the other way, they would have been in the playoffs. They had lost their opener, 16-10, to a New England Patriots team that went on to win just three more games, and they had late leads in seven of those losses, as well.

Taylor said the Bengals will take the win, correct mistakes and keep moving forward. Up next is the home opener next Sunday against Jacksonville, which beat Carolina 26-10 in its opener.

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