Bengals manage to put season in balance in Week 4 vs. Panthers: Dehner Jr.

The Bengals’ season, at least any realistic hopes of living up to extreme expectations, could come to an end Sunday in Carolina.

It’s not even October yet.

The September from hell could produce ramifications that would be felt for years.

To top it all off, Andy Dalton could be the one to light the fuse on the dynamite.

It’s hard to believe what’s transpired to lead Joe Burrow and the Bengals to this tipping point at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday.

But, to quote a popular phrase in Monday night’s locker room reeking of sweat and disbelief, “Here we are.”

They’ve fallen a long way from the 2021 “Why not us?” mantra.

Piling up losses to teams that earned the first, second and third picks in April’s draft and three head coaches in their first year with the franchises would be historic levels of failure.

There’s a belief as the team recentered itself this week that landing one win can slip the Bengals back to the right track — or at least a familiar one. They were 1-3 at this point last year coming off a 27-3 loss in Tennessee.

Falling to 0-4 is a non-starter. Fire up the mock draft machine and buckle up for eight months of speculation and evaluation of everyone’s future with the club not named Joe Burrow. Nobody would be safe from a conversation and portions of the team — starting with the defensive line — would need to get blown up.

Frustrations from an offseason of complaints about contracts and levied trade requests would only grow as the Bengals attempt an almost impossible climb.

Those conversations could be fended off by defeating a team the Bengals should be able to beat in their sleep, at least if they are the team they claim to be. That’s not disrespecting Carolina, the Panthers are just in a very different place organizationally.

There’s been an inordinate amount of conversation this week about leadership, sparked by Burrow’s comment about thinking critically about how vocal he wants to be. He says he wants to pick his spots and speak up a bit more. With the likes of DJ Reader, Tyler Boyd, Chidobe Awuzie and Joe Mixon gone, there’s room for more voices that previously played foundational roles in helping pull this team out of adversity.

That doesn’t mean he’ll suddenly be standing on top of a table before the game giving speeches. That’s not his style.

Which brings me back to “Why not us?” When that motto attached to them and became a rallying cry in 2021, it was the Saturday night meeting before the divisional championship that Burrow stood up and pointed out he didn’t like that moniker anymore. They weren’t underdogs. They deserved to be viewed as a team to beat.

Thus, “It is us,” was born and referenced in the days and weeks to come as a big motivational moment as the team went on the road to beat the top-seeded Titans and then the Chiefs the following week. That’s the type of vocal impact Burrow provides. When a team needs a new message, he will drop it in because when he talks, people listen. That’s not only because of the power he wields but the rarity with which he delivers messages.

He offered an appetizer in his Wednesday press conference.

“The urgency needs to heighten a little bit in this tough spot that we’re in,” Burrow said Wednesday.

Joe Burrow speaks to the media going into Week 4 https://t.co/wVBgis7dMI

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 25, 2024

His leadership style is built for adversity and probably why the Bengals have done so well pulling out of the mess early in every season. His intensity, preparation and laser focus in the everyday work set a tone everyone follows. He’s not screaming at people. He’s taking every minute seriously. That holds far more weight than some catchphrase. And matters more as a collection of 25 first-or-second-year players wonders how to react when the season goes sideways so fast.

“It’s something some you gotta learn,” offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. “The job is hard enough for these guys. From making sure the bodies are in the right state. Making sure their minds are in the right state that they can process and do what we’re asking them to do. It’s hard to avoid the negative attention that comes with losing, but you can do it … nobody’s happy with where we are but you can’t let it beat you twice. You got to compartmentalize.”

You’ve got to look to Burrow, who’s as good at doing it as anybody. An example for all to follow.

If they can’t recalibrate, it could become clear the Bengals are much closer to the rebuilding Panthers franchise than they want to admit.

I don’t believe that to be the case. The Bengals’ defense won’t be as bad as it was Monday — it’s almost mathematically impossible to be. The defense is probably closer to the unit that largely held up the first two weeks of the season than the one where the levee broke against Washington. The Bengals won’t be the 1985 Bears, but they can be good enough to let their offense win games.

The Bengals’ offense is trending to evolve into the group everyone envisioned as it added a few new pieces each year. The line has played as well as any in front of Burrow. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are at full strength. The running game ranks in the top three in football in EPA/rush and success percentage. The Bengals lead the NFL in success rate out of 12 personnel.

All of these have felt like the next layer necessary for two years. The level they are trending toward could carry the entire team. They’ll need to do so Sunday.

My prediction is they do so and can finally exhale, but not before one more sweat 27-24. Next up: An early elimination game with the Ravens in Week 5. Not that this team could spend a single second looking forward.

“Postseason is the furthest thing from my mind right now,” Burrow said Wednesday. “We had a good day today. We just have to get a win on Sunday. And then we’ll go from there.”