Cincinnati Bengals’ Sloppy Communication Errors Glare Bright in Loss to Browns

There’s nothing surprising about the Cincinnati Bengals losing in Cleveland. Sunday’s 24-3 drubbing was the team’s sixth consecutive defeat on the banks of Lake Erie, setting a franchise record for the longest road losing streak against their in-state rivals.

But the way the Bengals lost certainly raised eyebrows, with Joe Burrow putting up the worst numbers of his career. Still, Burrow has struggled against the Browns since entering the league, so it wasn’t altogether an out-of-left-field performance, even if 14 of 31 for 82 yards looks godawfully gaudy.

The biggest shock of the afternoon was the sloppy operation from beginning to end.

Bengals’ Communication Errors Rampant in Week 1 Loss

The Bengals are the only team in the league with a head coach and all three coordinators since before 2021. Zac Taylor, Brian Callahan, Lou Anarumo, and Darrin Simmons have been together since 2019. That continuity, plus the number of starters and other key pieces returning from back-to-bak deep playoff runs, was supposed to be a strength.

But the communication was as bad as the execution all afternoon.

“Poor” is how center Ted Karras described it.

“Everyone took a turn with different mistakes,” Karras added.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said two instances immediately leaped to mind during his postgame news conference.

“There was one time I was late getting the play call in, so we had an illegal shift because we had too many guys moving because the play clock was down,” he said of the play that came late in the second quarter with the Bengals trailing 3-0.

“That one’s on the play-caller,” Taylor added, putting the blame on his shoulders.

It didn’t actually cost the Bengals anything, as the Browns declined the penalty. But it was a 3rd-and-1 play that could have cost the team a key first down had they executed the play better. The Bengals were only trailing 3-0 at the time in the second quarter.

The other play Taylor mentioned did have ramifications, and it came on the next possession.

“There was another one we had an illegal formation,” he said. “We were just hugged a little bit too tight, and that thing sometimes can both ways. It is what it is.”

To make matters worse, it came on the first play after the two-minute warning, when the offense had plenty of time to get the play call and get in the correct formation.

It brought back memories of the 2002 season opener, when the Bengals drew a delay of game penalty on their first play of the season.

Speaking of delay of game penalties, the Bengals also had that one on their Bingo card of futility. It was on their first drive of the second quarter, just after the Browns had taken a 3-0 lead.

“It’s just some Week 1 stuff that happens everywhere,” Burrow said. “You see it across the league. That’s something that everybody has to get cleaned up. We have to get it cleaned up, and we will.”

The delay of game penalty turned 3rd-and-10 into 3rd-and-15 deep in the Bengals’ side of the field, forcing them to essentially wave the white flag by calling a draw and then punting.

Also of note was the lack of communication between Burrow and his receivers. It happened early on a back-shoulder attempt to Ja’Marr Chase when the receiver kept going. There were a couple of plays where Burrow’s passes were nowhere close to Tee Higgins, in which it looked as though the receiver ran the wrong route.

After one, Higgins was seen having a conversation with the sideline as he was going back to the huddle.

“We just weren’t on the right track,” Higgins said. “We weren’t hitting on the right levels.”

Burrow again attributed it to early-season hiccups and the five weeks he missed in training camp due to a strained calf.

MORE: Bengals Week 1 Winners and Losers

“That happens in Week 1,” Burrow said. “Obviously, those things happen when your quarterback doesn’t perform in training camp. That was something, obviously, I would have liked to have done. There’s no excuses.”

“Nobody is panicking in here,” he added. “Week 1 doesn’t define anybody’s season. Obviously not very good out there today. Anybody who watched saw that. But we’ve been in this spot before, and we’ve come back stronger and had a great year. That’s what we are going to do.”