The Cincinnati Bengals and the host Denver Broncos each will be looking for a rebound win when they meet Monday night.
In a rematch of one of the more memorable games of the 2024 season, the Bengals (2-1) head to Denver to take on a Broncos squad coming off a 23-20 road loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Denver (1-2) beat the Tennessee Titans 20-12 in their season opener before falling to Indianapolis 29-28 and the Chargers on the road in their last two games. The Broncos blew fourth-quarter leads and lost on last-second field goals in both games.
“When the season’s over with, let’s look at this team and say, ‘Hey, can they finish?’ ” said Denver head coach Sean Payton. “We’ll be able to point to Week 2 and 3, we weren’t able to. But I think of certain teams that I’ve been a part of or coached, and I think that the corrections and the improvement, any good team really, and even last year we had a wild-card playoff team, there’s a stretch where you begin to win games and you play better. That’s what’s due for this team. That’s what has to happen for this team.”
Denver second-year quarterback Bo Nix had a couple of overthrows in last week’s game, and his play has been the subject of criticism over the first three weeks. Perhaps seeing the Bengals again will trigger a return to his rookie form.
When Denver visited Cincinnati in Week 17 last year, Nix threw a late touchdown pass to Marvin Mims Jr. to force overtime. Though the Bengals rallied to win that game 30-24 in extra time, Nix responded by hitting 26 of 29 passes for four touchdowns in Week 18 as the Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs to swipe the last wild-card spot away from the Bengals.
This season, Nix is tied for 22nd in quarterback rating (among players who qualify) at 83.4 and has five touchdowns to three interceptions in three weeks.
The story has been even rougher for Bengals quarterback Jake Browning. The backup who came on for Joe Burrow, who suffered a toe injury requiring surgery in Week 2, has been turning the ball over at an alarming rate. Browning has thrown five interceptions in six quarters of play, though he did rally the Bengals to a last-minute win against Jacksonville in Week 2.
Last week, he threw a pair of interceptions, including one for a Minnesota score as the Bengals suffered their most lopsided loss in team history, 48-10, on the road.
Cincinnati committed five turnovers — four in the first half — and lost three of their five fumbles on the afternoon.
“We need to fundamentally clean some stuff up, be better with our ball security,” said Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor. “This was one loss. We’ve got 17 games. Don’t let this game beat us twice, in terms of our preparation this week.
“What the negativity is going to be, that exists,” Taylor added. “We put that on ourselves. We’ve got to do a great job of sticking together and battling. Again, (we have an) unbelievable stage to go on next week if we want to prove who we are.”
Bengals defensive end Shemar Stewart (ankle) and tight end Noah Fant (concussion protocol) did not practice on Thursday. Stewart suffered the injury in Week 2 and did not play last week.
Broncos defensive end John Franklin-Myers (hip) was a limited participant on Thursday.