Stripes

Dax is breaking out. Looks spectacular.

Eyeballs tweaking violently

Pleasantly surprised

They’re going to take that away.

Tee is having a rough game.

I’m already done with Brad Robbins. There has to be someone out there that can punt a ball at least competently. And I don’t mean Chrisman.

Everyone is reporting Burrow is active now. Three QBs tonight.

Yes, there's no question it's a rock and a hard place situation. The real failure is starting 0-2. Even 1-1 makes this decision a lot easier.

For what it's worth, the Vegas line has crawled up from CIN -2.0 to -2.5 and now to -3.0 today. They seem to think Burrow is playing.

I think it's still up in the air, but I hope he plays. I think the Bengals are decided underdogs in any Jake Browning game, and 0-3 might be too big a hole to climb out of. I'm not willing to throw a Super Bowl window season in the trash. I'm just not. I don't think Joe Burrow is either, and he'll play if he is remotely capable. I just hope that if he plays, he is able to find some rhythm. Obviously I hope he also stays upright and healthy. It's a sport of risks.

Well that’s weird. “Bring back AJ McCarron” is one of those unhinged fan demands people make without actually thinking anything through. But he’s back. Hahaha. I mean sure, cool. Hopefully he’s still competent.

Remarkable that it's Friday and I have absolutely no idea if the starting QB is going to play. This isn't a complaint. It feels like the whole season hangs in the balance though, so anxiety mounts.

The Bengals' chance to win dramatically decreases with the backup quarterback. That's true for the vast majority of teams in the NFL. From an attitude perspective, "they should win anyway" is fine -- but it isn't grounded in reality. They're much worse without Joe Burrow. They "can" win anyway, but it'd take their best across the board and probably a little luck too.

Janeane Garofalo suggested that Burrow is feeling better. I tend to think he plays, and I think he should play if he is feeling decent. I'm not handing a Super Bowl window to Jake Browning for a week if I don't have to, fear be damned.

0-2 is a gigantic failure for this roster. Period. They can pull out of it, and I like their chances. But you can already pretty much kiss the one seed goodbye, barring a miracle. On the bright side, this game looked a lot more like the 0-2 start of last year.

I didn’t like the clock management on the previous drive, and they left themselves no margin for error.

Glad to score. Took too long. Defense has to give up no more than one first down.

This punter just seems brutal.

4/4 on third down that drive. Good. Play defense.

20-3 without a special teams break. Worrying.

Woof.

Pick it up

Way too easy. They’re strolling right down the field.

Nick Scott is 0/2 when streaking unblocked into the backfield.

Annoying to kick a FG, but they stayed on the field and looked competent.