CINCINNATI — Ja’Marr Chase’s holdout and limited preseason practice time were hardly the only issues for the Cincinnati Bengals in their dud of a season opener.
Chase took the field Sunday against the New England Patriots after leaving everyone guessing about whether he would. The star receiver missed all of training camp while pursuing a lucrative contract extension.
But turnovers and poor tackling were just as responsible for the Bengals’ 16-10 loss to the Patriots, their latest poor start to a season under coach Zac Taylor.
“I felt ready enough,” said Chase, who had six catches for 62 yards. “Just wish we had more opportunities to make plays. Turnovers and we’ve got to get first downs and move the ball. We just have to forget about it and move on to next week.”
With a game at Super Bowl champion Kansas City up next, the Bengals face the possibility of starting 0-2 for a third straight season.
Taylor, in his sixth season, started 0-11 in his first year, a rebuilding season the year before drafting Joe Burrow No. 1 overall. The Bengals’ best two-game start under Taylor is 1-1.
The Bengals allowed 170 yards on the ground and had two critical fumbles Sunday. Burrow is fully healthy but finished an underwhelming 21 of 29 for 164 yards. He was sacked three times.
Cincinnati had the ball with a chance to tie or win the game with 3:04 remaining but failed to get a first down and elected to punt with three timeouts left. The Patriots got two first downs to run out the clock.
“I missed Ja’Marr on the first play, I missed Zack (Moss) on the check-down on the second play, then they got us playing a coverage I didn’t expect on third down,” Burrow said. “Not my best drive. Not our best day. I just have to watch the tape.”
Burrow said he learned on Sunday that Chase was going to play after the star receiver recovered from a case of food poisoning earlier in the week.
Chase’s longest reception went for 28 yards. Burrow said the lack of deep targets to Chase didn’t have as much to do with their lack of time together in camp and more to do with the Patriots’ defensive scheme.
“They were taking it away,” Burrow said. “They did a good job. They had a good plan. I was just taking what they gave me. We will watch the tape and see if we had some other opportunities to get the ball down the field.”
Last season, the Bengals didn’t play their starters in any preseason games. This year, Burrow and the first-team offense played one series in the preseason opener against Tampa Bay. Such an approach isn’t unusual, but the Bengals also had to deal with the distraction surrounding Chase’s desire for an extension, which still hasn’t been resolved.
“I will leave his business to him,” Burrow said. “It was great to have him out there. I thought he played well.”
More salient to the Bengals’ loss were fumbles by receiver Charlie Jones and tight end Tanner Hudson who had the ball stripped near the goal line. Chase was flagged for illegal substitution when he failed to leave the field in time before a punt.
“There was execution in a lot of areas that certainly was good enough to win,” Taylor said. “It’s not because we don’t have the talent, or anything else like that. We lost the turnover battle and we didn’t tackle.”
It’s rare for a team to start 0-2 and reach the playoffs. The Bengals started the 2022 season with two straight losses, then won the AFC North title before losing to the Chiefs in the AFC championship game. Cincinnati hopes to avoid digging another hole.
“The good thing is we have 16 games left to play,” Taylor said. “Starting 0-1 certainly is not a hole we want to be in, but I feel about how this team will improve.”