CINCINNATI — A gray, wet sky blanketed Paycor Stadium on Sunday. It looked a lot like the state of the season for the Cincinnati Bengals at the moment.
Jake Browning and Co. have a lot of work to do.
Back in October, Cincinnati was confident and roaring again, winning four straight games behind a finally healthy Joe Burrow. At 5-3, the Bengals were back in the thick of the AFC North.
Then came a three-point home loss to Houston on Nov. 12.
Then it got worse.
Burrow was lost for the season when he tore a ligament in his right hand during a 34-20 loss at Baltimore on Nov. 16. The star quarterback had surgery on Monday.
With former practice squad QB Browning making his first NFL start Sunday, the last-place Bengals lost 16-10 to Pittsburgh. They dropped to 5-6, a full two games behind the 7-4 Steelers and Browns and well out of reach of the 9-3 Ravens on top of the AFC North.
All hope of making the playoffs for a third straight season is not lost, but the defending division champions will have to figure out how to win without their spiritual leader and rally behind a new quarterback who doesn’t look ready for prime time.
“That’s how the NFL season goes. You’re going to hit stretches, and you’ve got to find a way to overcome them and regroup,” coach Zac Taylor said.
“Our attention to detail will continue to be sharp, and we will find ways to win in December,” he said. “This team has shown the ability to do that in the past.”
WHAT’S WORKING
The defense surrendered 421 yards on Sunday, but it limited the Steelers to one touchdown and three field goals. The Steelers punted four times and fumbled the ball away once. Cincinnati held them to three points in the first half.
WHAT NEEDS HELP
Browning’s numbers weren’t terrible - 19 for 26 for 227 yards with a touchdown and an interception - but the pass protection will need to get better for the inexperienced quarterback to succeed. He was sacked four times, twice by T.J. Watt. And again, Cincinnati struggled to run the ball, making the offense one-dimensional.
STOCK UP
Ja’Marr Chase had his best game in three weeks, catching four of six targets for 81 yards. The star wide receiver grabbed a tipped pass in the second quarter and turned it into a 31-yard gain. Two plays later, Browning found tight end Drew Sample for the Bengals’ only touchdown.
STOCK DOWN
RB Joe Mixon carried the ball eight times for 16 yards before the Bengals stopped trying to run at all. Some of the blame has to be absorbed by the offensive line, which hasn’t been able to make the run game click all season.
INJURIES
LB Logan Wilson injured an ankle near the end of the game. … WR Tee Higgins (hamstring) has missed the past three games.
KEY NUMBER
2 for 10 - Cincinnati’s third-down conversion rate against the Steelers.
NEXT STEPS
Burrow won’t be back, so the Bengals have got to make Browning competitive or perhaps turn to former XFL quarterback A.J. McCarron, who is in his second stint with the Bengals. The rugged finishing schedule starts Monday night at Jacksonville. The Jags are 8-3, good enough for first place in the AFC South. Each of the six teams left on Cincinnati’s schedule currently has a winning record. The Bengals still have rematches ahead with the Steelers (Dec. 23) and Browns (Jan. 7).
“There will be a lot of outside noise. We’ve got to stick together in here,” DT Zach Carter said.
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