The Cincinnati Bengals got mopped up by the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday 48-10. It was an all-around disaster and – rightfully or wrongfully – it starts with quarterback Jake Browning.
Browning was 19-27 passing for just 140 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. One of the picks was returned for a touchdown, which most experts would agree isn’t good.
But, Browning has actually been worse than that this season. He didn’t play at all in Week 1 and came in for an injured Joe Burrow in Week 2. That means the Vikings game was his only start of the season, yet he still leads the NFL with five interceptions. That is remarkably impossible.
“Browning has reached the five-interception mark after throwing just 59 passes,” writes Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “He ranks 30th in the NFL in pass attempts, but none of the quarterbacks who have thrown more passes than him has thrown as many interceptions. Browning has thrown interceptions on an NFL-high 8.5 percent of his passes.”
Jake Browning is at the bottom of the quarterback power rankings
Given that the Bengals got pasted in his only start and he’s leading the entire league in interceptions, it’s not surprising that Browning would rank at the bottom of the NFL quarterback power rankings.
Sayre Bedinger of NFL Spin Zone has done just that and placed him squarely at No. 32.
“Nobody was under the illusion that things were going to be great with a Joe Burrow injury in Week 2, but Jake Browning has been an inefficient turnover machine,” Bedinger writes. “He’s obviously a backup, so you can’t be too harsh, but the way the Bengals laid flast against the Vikings – who were also using a backup QB – was disappointing. Browning had another pair of interceptions and the offense lost three fumbles. Ugly.”
On the season, Browning has completed 67.8% of his passes for 381 yards, three touchdowns and five interceptions. It’s tough to see how the Bengals could do much worse and it really makes you wonder if Duke Tobin has been on the phone.
Jake Browning is aware of how bad Jake Browning has been
Following the loss to the Vikings, Browning was asked about the turnovers and the effect it had on the game.
“Yeah, I mean, definitely did in the first half,” Browning said. “I think when you have that many turnovers in the first half, you’re going to play from behind the whole game, and never really got into a rhythm. And they stuck it to us today, that was bad.”
And, as one could imagine, head coach Zac Taylor was not overly thrilled by Browning’s performance, even though he tried to sugar coat it with some of the little things he did right.
“Yeah, we got to protect the ball, number one,” Taylor said. “That was – we came into this game, we got to protect the ball. So he had two turnovers, and then we’ll watch the tape and assess from there. I thought he did a great job managing the pre snap operation. That was significant going into this game, getting us into the right call, getting the protection calls, operating within the clock. I thought he did a great job mentioning that, and we’ll watch the tape and make an assessment where it is.”
He’s highlighting some basic functions of playing quarterback at the NFL level. That’s fine, I’m glad Browning can read his wristband. But, it’s going to take a lot more than that for the Bengals to win some games and save what could (will) be a squandered season.
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