Bengals Need Lucky Breaks to Break Early-Season Curse

The Browns contributed to their own demise, but the Bengals will take an early-season win any way they can get it.

It was the talk of the offseason.  Anytime someone mentioned the Cincinnati Bengals and their chances in the 2025 season, there was always this caveat: the elephant in the room was the Bengals performances in the first two weeks of the season.  This team is equipped to make a run for the Super Bowl, they said, but can they avoid falling on their faces out of the gates?

For most of the second half of the Bengals Week One game against the intra-division rival Cleveland Browns, it appeared that the Bengals had their faces once again primed for a meeting with the dirt.  But, incredibly, at the very last second, the Bengals managed to regain their footing.  They pulled off the improbable 17 - 16 win over the Browns thanks to the most improbable of heroes – their much-maligned defense (and some generous help from the Browns kicker thrown in for good measure).

Following the Bengals fourth three-and-out in five second-half possessions, the Browns took over on their own 33-yard line with plenty of time on the clock to get into field goal range.  Their rookie kicker had missed a potential game-winner just minutes earlier, but the Browns defense would not be denied.  Joe Flacco and company were granted one more opportunity to take the lead and to send the Bengals and their fans into an abyss of second-guessing.

The drive started off well, with Flacco finding tight end David Njoku for a nine-yard gain.  The Bengals defense struggled all day against tight ends and passes over the middle of the field, and it felt like the Browns were going to bleed the Bengals defense to death by a million tiny cuts.  The Browns were in total control…until the very next play.

With the game – and, given the narrative surrounding the Bengals in the early weeks, potentially the season – on the line, the Bengals defense capitalized on a golden opportunity when cornerback D.J. Turner intercepted a pass that bounced off Browns receiver Cedric Tillman’s hands.  It was the second deflection-interception of the day for Flacco, and the game was all but sealed from there.

For a team that got almost none of these kinds of performances from the defense last year, this was incredibly refreshing.  The Bengals were aching with the weight of so many early-season disappointments, and it seemed inevitable that the Bengals were going to collapse under the pressure.  Instead, the defense played the role of unlikely savior.

Despite the win, this wasn’t exactly a feel-good game.  The Bengals were incredibly fortunate to walk away with the victory, given the Browns left four points on the board thanks to their rookie kicker Andre Szymt missing an extra point and a go-head field goal from 36 yards.  The Browns outgained the Bengals 327 yards to 141, and drops by Browns receivers contributed directly to three turnovers (two interceptions and one turnover on-downs).

The Bengals offense appeared disjointed and uncomfortable for the entire second half.  On one possession in the fourth quarter, Burrow was sacked on three-straight plays.  Bengals running back Chase Brown looked like he was about to have a monster game after a brilliant first drive that featured numerous jukes, plenty of speed and a surprising bit of power, but he was totally bottled up after that.  With the run game neutralized, the Browns pass rushers, and especially Myles Garrett, began to tee off.  Burrow and the offense could never find a rhythm.  Ja’Marr Chase, fresh off winning the receiving triple-crown in 2024, was limited to two catches for 26 yards.

And yet, with adversity hounding the Bengals like a pack of hungry wolves, this is exactly the kind of game the Bengals would have lost last year.  That they found a way to win in a difficult environment on the road, when nothing seemed to be going their way, is extremely encouraging.  The numbers 1 - 11 (Zac Taylor’s record in Weeks 1 and 2) loomed over the entire Bengals offseason, and at least for the time being, that narrative will be quieted.

There will be plenty to work on as the Bengals begin to prepare for their home-opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.  The Browns feasted on passes over the middle and on checkdowns to rookie running back Dylan Sampson.  He and fellow rookie Harold Fannin Jr., the Browns second-string tight end, combined for 15 receptions and 127 yards receiving.  The Bengals are also going to need to figure out why they couldn’t run the ball to save their lives in the second half after having moderate success in the first.

But all that pales in comparison to one, simple truth: the Bengals won their first game of the season.  It was ugly, frustrating, and, at-times, borderline implausible, but the Bengals got it done nonetheless.  Beating the Browns probably won’t be anything to write home about at the end of the year, but for the Bengals, it’s an important road win against a divisional opponent.  For this team, in particular, it means even more than that.

This was their opportunity to silence the doubters; to quiet those who thought the Bengals were destined for another slow start, and to change the minds of those who had decided the Bengals best days were behind them.  Regardless of circumstances and the opponent, this win meant a lot.  The slow-start jinx has been dealt with, even if it took a minor miracle and more than a few fortunate breaks.