Burrow convinced Bengals time to return as AFC contenders has to be this season

CINCINNATI BENGALS (6-11)

Expectations

Joe Burrow has a heightened sense of urgency going into his seventh season as the Bengals’ franchise quarterback. Cincinnati has missed the playoffs the past three seasons after making it to Super Bowl 56 in 2021 and the AFC championship game the following year. “You can keep pushing it down the road, or you can talk about it now and say, ‘This is the year.’ And I’m tired of saying, ‘Next year, next year, next year.’ This is it,” Burrow said after a joint practice with the Chicago Bears on Aug. 20. “Life is too short to keep pushing things down the road.” The Bengals return all of their starters on offense, but the upgrades on defense will go a long way in determining if they are contenders. After signing defensive end Boye Mafe and safety Bryan Cook in free agency, Cincinnati sent a first-round pick to the New York Giants the week before the draft for Dexter Lawrence. Even though Cincinnati can put up plenty of points with Burrow throwing to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, it has lost seven games the past two years in which it scored at least 30 points but allowed 30 or more.

New faces

DT Dexter Lawrence II, DT Jonathan Allen, DE Boye Mafe, S Bryan Cook.

Key losses

DE Trey Hendrickson, OLB Joseph Ossai, S Geno Stone.

Strengths

When Burrow is healthy, the Bengals have one of the top offenses in the NFL. His 68.41% career completion rate is currently tops in league history among quarterbacks with at least 1,500 pass attempts. Chase is the only player in league history with at least 80 catches, 1000 receiving yards and seven receiving scores in each of his first five years. Higgins was tied for second in the league with 11 receiving TDs last season. All 11 starters return on offense as well as backup QB Joe Flacco, who the Bengals acquired last season from Cleveland after Burrow suffered a turf toe injury and the team dropped two straight.

Weaknesses

Lack of depth on the offensive line. Cody Ford was the swing tackle the past couple of seasons, but was released last week. Javon Foster is an option at swing tackle and Jalen Rivers can play both guard and tackle. While the upgrades on the defense were concentrated on improving the pass rush and the secondary, the Bengals were last in the league in stopping the run, allowing an average of 147.1 yards per game on the ground.

Camp development

WR Dohnte Meyers led the team in receiving during the preseason with 11 receptions for 121 yards. Meyers spent two seasons with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders before signing a reserve/futures contract during the offseason. Joe Burrow said after the first preseason game against the Detroit Lions that he found out Meyers drove eight hours from Atlanta to attend a throwing session after the franchise quarterback asked if he could be there.

Fantasy player to watch

Fourth-year running back Chase Brown was one of five NFL players with at least 1,000 rushing and 400 receiving yards last season. He had a franchise-record six straight games with at least 100 scrimmage yards. Brown’s 123 receptions the past two seasons are fourth among running backs, and his nine receiving touchdowns are tied for second.

___

See AP’s full NFL coverage here