The Bengals season got their season off on the wrong foot in Cleveland on Sunday.
The Browns defense completely overwhelmed the Cincinnati offense during a 24-3 win on their home field. Quarterback Joe Burrow was 14-of-31 for 82 yards and the Bengals had 142 net yards of offense as they fell to the Browns for the ninth time in their last 11 matchups.
Burrow missed the preseason while recovering from a calf injury, but said he “felt good enough” and that a lack of time with his receivers wasn’t an excuse for how poorly the team played. Burrow also said that the team wasn’t going to make too much out of one result.
“Nobody is panicking in here, guys,” Burrow said, via the team’s website. “Week One doesn’t define anybody’s season. Obviously, not very good out there. Anybody that watched saw that. But we have been in this spot before and come back stronger and had great years. That’s what we are going to do.”
The Bengals were 0-2 last year before going 12-2 the rest of the way and advancing to the AFC title game, so the belief in patience has a strong foundation. The Bengals will try to put together a better game against the Ravens at home in Week Two.