The announcement on Friday that Joe Burrow will miss the entire season due to a ruptured ligament has put the Cincinnati Bengals in a terrible situation. As fans witnessed during the second half of their lopsided loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night, Burrow’s replacement, backup quarterback Jake Browning, had a significant drop off.

The Bengals, who need to be playing much better when Burrow was in the lineup, will need to pull together as a team to salvage their season and make it to the postseason with Burrow out of the lineup.

The Bengals’ issue is that they might not be talented enough to accomplish their objectives this season. While the offense’s injuries are one thing, the defence is now in terrible shape.

The previous two Bengals teams have had similarly bad beginnings to their seasons. Cincinnati began 2022 with a 0-2 record and battled its way to the AFC title game, where it was defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs, the eventual Super Bowl champions. Considering the extremely narrow margin for error following defeat in the season’s opening two games, it was an incredible accomplishment.

For the Bengals of 2023, whose defence has collapsed, that doesn’t seem feasible. The Bengals of 2022 were seventh in terms of success rate (42.2%) and ninth in terms of predicted points conceded per play (minus-0.045), according to RBSDM.com. When combined with a top-five offence, that club had what it took to overcome adversity and move on.

Right now, they simply lack juice on that side of the ball. They had a solid secondary in 2022, but they lost Pro Bowler Jessie Bates III, Vonn Bell, and Eli Apple to free agency. They are still waiting for some of their recent secondary draft picks to become into reliable starters. Although many people consider defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo to be among the best playcallers in the game, it can be challenging to lead a strong defence in the NFL when talent wanes. Three rookies and two second-year players make up Cincinnati’s secondary at the moment; three of the five (safety Dax Hill and cornerbacks Cam Taylor-Britt and Taylor-Britt) are key members of the defence. If such guys can lead a cohesive team, only time will tell.

The Bengals and the AFC foe Buffalo Bills are comparable in certain aspects. Although they have a quarterback who is incredibly gifted and a solid supporting group, a sizable portion of the team surrounding them is either getting older or left this offseason. Here’s where the expectations surrounding highly successful teams might become a little murky. It is quite difficult to prevent a down season such as this; instead, a yearly reloading process is required. On the other hand, it only takes one offseason for a team like the Bengals to return to the top of the NFL. One poor offseason can derail a franchise.

The Bengals’ defence lacks the depth and quality to contend for a Super Bowl this season, even if they are able to get guys like pass rusher Sam Hubbard—who is presently dealing with an ankle injury—back on the field. The Bengals still have elite talent to hang with any team in a game when Burrow was healthy and throwing to Tee Higgins (when he returns) but they don’t have the same depth of players to win every game.

The Bengals are a little more questionable; they don’t even have a typical 5-5 record. They are 1-5 this year versus AFC clubs, 0-3 in the AFC North, and dropped the season series against the Ravens. Every day it is harder to win a tiebreaker and advance to the seventh spot.

Although having a quarterback skilled enough to win the Super Bowl is a bitter pill to swallow, the Bengals are getting closer every week to their offseason objectives. Burrow is out, the defence is inexperienced and underperforming, and the road to the seventh spot is unclear. It’s just not your year sometimes. Cincinnati, load up for autumn 2024.