Winners and Losers from the Bengals' 34-31 Loss to the Jets

Cincinnati falls to 5-3 on the season.

Blake Jewell | Oct 31, 2021

The Bengals suffered one of their worst losses in recent memory on Sunday, losing to the Jets 34-31.

Here are our winners and losers from Cincinnati's Halloween nightmare in New York:

Winners

Joe Burrow

Burrow had some mistakes, but he’s the main reason the Bengals were in it at the end. His 259 yards and three touchdowns kept the Jets from totally pulling away with the Bengals' defense struggling. Without his performance, this game actually could have been out of hand.

Tee Higgins

The second-year receiver has had a rough start to the season, but he made some big plays, finishing with four receptions for a season-high 97 receiving yards. Higgins caught a 54-yard pass and showed signs of life after an inefficient Week 7 performance against the Ravens.

Losers

Coaching

We’ll get around to specifics, but coaching falls into the losers category due to team energy this week. They came out flat at the start, and never picked up the momentum. At times, the Bengals team didn’t look like they wanted to be on the field. They looked confused and lazy. Yes, this is an issue with players, but it's also on the coaches, which is something Zac Taylor discussed after the game.

Defense

The entire defense is in the losers category this week. They let Mike White, in his first career start, do whatever he wanted. They never figured out the Jets short passes and they were never in control. They’ve had a great season, but this loss is mostly on Lou Anarumo and the Bengals' defense. They’ll be facing much better offenses in the coming weeks, so they’ll need to figure this out.

Chidobe Awuzie

Awuzie has been a top corner in the league this season, and I don’t expect that to change, but his performance against the Jets was easily his worst game since he arrived in Cincinnati. He struggled in coverage on some big plays, as the Jets finished with 32 first downs. He also dropped a potential pick-six that could've changed the game in the second quarter.

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