By Ben Standig, Paul Dehner Jr. and Mark Puleo

In a battle of recent LSU Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks, the rookie upended the Pro Bowl veteran and, in the process, may have dashed the Cincinnati Bengals’ playoff hopes before the calendar hits October. The Bengals fell to 0-3 with their 38-33 loss to the Washington Commanders on Monday.

For the Commanders, it was Jayden Daniels’ night to prove he’s the future in Washington as the No. 2 pick orchestrated long drive after long drive, leading Washington to five touchdowns. The fourth of those end zone trips came on a 1-yard lob to 320-pound offensive tackle Trent Scott for Daniels’ first career passing touchdown.

 

The high-flying shootout kept Daniels and Joe Burrow busy, but made for an exhausting night for the defenses and a boring night for the punters. Monday’s game marked the first contest since 1940 without a single punt or takeaway.

For the Bengals, the loss punched a hole in the team’s preseason title hopes. Cincinnati entered 2024 with the sixth-best Super Bowl odds, per BetMGM, but now faces a historically steep climb to even make the playoffs. Since 1990, only four teams have made the playoffs after an 0-3 start.

The Daniels era is here

Little has fazed Daniels at the pro level. Monday night’s national television audience witnessed the rookie quarterback’s poise and compelling talent. In his first prime-time game, Daniels frustrated Cincinnati’s defense all night by evading one pass rusher and tackler after another.

He steadily delivered deep completions and chain-moving short tosses. Then Daniels showed his flair for dramatics by saving his best for last, a pinpoint 27-yard lob to Terry McLaurin for the quarterback’s second touchdown pass of the game and season. The future is unknown and yet the future is here right now for the Commanders in the form of a thrilling quarterback. — Ben Standig, Commanders beat writer

The Burrow era hits rock bottom

Welcome to the nightmare scenario for the 2024 Bengals. Slow starts have followed Cincinnati every year and they’ve quickly found ways to dig out of it getting too far away from them. It’s fair to wonder after Daniels and Washington tore their defense apart if they’ve already blown hope for the year three games in. The Bengals move to 0-3, a record where only 2.4 percent of teams since 1990 have rebounded to make the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Steelers are already 3-0 and the Bengals gave away two home games against teams that drafted in the top five, hired a new coach and picked a quarterback. When you have Joe Burrow and continuity in spades across the coaching staff this type of disaster to start the year cannot happen. Between all the off-the-field mess and what’s happened on it, this ranks as one of the worst three-week spans of the Burrow Era. — Paul Dehner, Bengals beat writer

Kliff Kingsbury has Commanders cooking

The Commanders need more offensive playmakers. That is true, at least by fantasy football standards. What’s also accurate through three weeks is coordinator Kliff Kingsbury continues maximizing the options available.

Washington scored on all six full possessions against Cincinnati. That extended its streak to 14 consecutive scoring drives dating back to Week 1, not including kneel-downs. Remarkable doesn’t begin to describe that efficiency. Running back Austin Ekeler powered the early attack and McLaurin carried the scoring burden after halftime. All occurred with Daniels running the show and Kingsbury calling intelligent plays.

When your skill players aren’t headliners, you look for any advantage. Daniels and Kingsbury were masterful in that regard. — Standig

 

Bengals defense of old bites Cincinnati

The 2023 Bengals defense was awful and embarrassing in almost every way. Cincinnati found stability in two veteran safeties and thought that would be enough to leave all the problems and explosive plays behind them. Through two weeks, it appeared they had.

Then on Monday, they didn’t just revert to the 2023 version, they were somehow worse. They allowed five touchdowns and a field goal. It wasn’t just giving up points, but the fact they rarely forced third downs. The Commanders were in third and short if they ever actually made it to that down. Then when Cincinnati did force a fourth down they never made the big play. Instead, they allowed three conversions that kept drives alive. The Commanders’ offense is legit, but all the concerns of the lackluster defensive line and mounting injuries were obvious in full force and there’s no immediate fix in sight. — Dehner

Bengals offense was solid, but needed to be perfect

The Bengals’ offense did enough to hold their own, but on a night with no room for error, there was error. Most of it came in the red zone. Cincinnati didn’t punt or commit a turnover all night, but two failed red zone drives and a missed field goal were more than enough to open the door for Daniels and the Commanders. Burrow and his receivers didn’t appear on the same page on the two failed drives. A blemish on an otherwise solid night for the offense where Burrow threw for 324 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions while they racked up 30 first downs.

When the defense is that bad, none of it matters. — Dehner