The Bengals are back in the contender conversation, and this time it’s not just because of the record.
A 5-2 start has pushed Cincinnati right back into the AFC’s top tier, even if the flaws are still easy to spot. The tackling has been shaky.
The run game hasn’t shown much life. The turnovers are still there.
But when a team can put up the kind of fireworks Cincinnati did against the Titans, it’s hard to ignore.
Rob Gronkowski didn’t ignore it. He pointed out the problems, but he still put the Bengals in the contender bucket while making it clear why they remain appointment viewing.
“They're contenders, but they're also a little pretend a little bit because of the miscues, a lot of turnovers still, they can't run the ball, their defense can't tackle,” Gronkowski said on the Gronk and Jules show. “But their offense is so fire, and we love watching them go, Tee Higgins, Ja'Marr Chase, Joe Burrow, they got a couple tight ends as well, you gotta tune in to the Cincinnati Bengals, they are a fireworks show basically every weekend.”
That offense was on full display in Cincinnati’s 43-36 overtime win over the Titans. Joe Burrow set new career highs with six touchdowns, while Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase combined for 21 catches, 296 yards, and three touchdowns.
The defense and the ground game didn’t do much to impress against a Titans team the Bengals were expected to handle. That’s been part of the frustration all along: the offense can go toe-to-toe with anybody, but the rest of the roster hasn’t always matched it.
Still, there was a different feel to this win. Burrow and the Bengals’ other stars have already shown they can survive shootouts over the last three years. What has changed is the defense’s ability to come through in a big moment.
That showed up Sunday when Dexter Lawrence delivered a late-fourth-quarter sack of Cam Ward to force overtime. Earlier, Boye Mafe added a strip-sack in the third quarter after Burrow threw an interception. Those are the kinds of plays Cincinnati has too often failed to make in games like this.
Burrow said as much after the game.
“We found a way to win today, we are 5-2, we lose that game the last three years.” Burrow said.
With the defense finally making a key stop at the right time, the Bengals’ offense no longer has to carry the whole argument by itself. But even if it did, that side of the ball is explosive enough to keep Cincinnati in the contender mix for the rest of the season.
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