Inside Slant

The Sports Xchange

December 06, 2018 at 1:12 am.

Bad stretch has Bengals trying to salvage season

It was supposed to be a favorable stretch six out of eight games at home. Instead, it turned into a disaster in numerous ways for the Cincinnati Bengals.

When the Bengals entered this so-called favorable stretch, they were 3-1 and they began it with a fourth-quarter comeback against the Miami Dolphins.

Then the disasters started unfolding and when it ended with a 24-10 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, the Bengals were left with a 5-7 record and increased the probability of missing the postseason for the third straight season.

“I’m disappointed with our football game today,” head coach Marvin Lewis said.

And if the losses were not bad enough, the Bengals lost starting quarterback Andy Dalton last week due to a faulty snap by rookie center Billy Price and then lost star wide receiver A.J. Green, who was placed on injured reserve Wednesday.

“That’s huge,” said quarterback Jeff Driskel, who makes his second career start this week. “At the end of the day, we have other good players out there, and the coaches are going to do a good job of getting those guys in position to make plays.

“We have full confidence that whoever is out there playing receiver is going to make those plays. It’s definitely different and you have to draw some things up a little bit differently and move some people around. We’re going to have to overcome and make some plays out there in his absence.”

Now they will try to salvage the wreckage when they visit the Los Angeles Chargers, who happen to be one of the league’s hottest teams.

“Obviously they’ve really hit their stride,” Lewis said. “They’ve won close games and been up in games, so they’ve had the tale of both sides of those. They’re playing really well on offense.”

But any reference to wreckage cannot leave out the defense, a unit so ineffective that it cost coordinator Teryl Austin his job and is not performing much better with Lewis in charge.

The score was respectable by Bengals’ standards as they did not allow 30 points for the seventh time but the rest of was hardly respectable. The Bengals gave up 218 rushing yards and it was the third time in four weeks it occurred.

Not to mention the penalties. There were 12 of those for 100 yards and each of the five starting offensive linemen were penalized at least once by halftime.

“You know how important every game is anyway, then when you are up against the ropes and need these wins everything gets multiplied,” receiver Alex Erickson said. “Every error, every mistake gets multiplied. It keeps stacking on top of each other.”

You name it the Bengals continued to do everything wrong with the exceptions of running back Joe Mixon and wideout Tyler Boyd, who continue to produce in rough circumstances.

Mixon gained 82 yards on 12 carries while Boyd hauled in six receptions for 97 yards, just missing his fourth 100-yard showing of the season.

“I’m just doing what I can for the team and trying to put them in the best position to win,” Mixon said.

Now with a laundry list of injuries and a defense coming up small, the Bengals will try to avoid creating more disasters.

SERIES HISTORY: 34th regular-season meeting. Chargers lead series, 19-14. The Bengals are facing the Chargers for the first time since their move from San Diego. The Bengals are 4-1 in the last five meetings and recorded a 24-19 home win in the last meeting in 2015 when they sacked Philip Rivers four times and forced three turnovers.