Analysis: Who are these 0-2 Cincinnati Bengals?

The Cincinnati Bengals find themselves in a familiar situation as they fell to 0-2 for the second year in a row.

After losing to the Baltimore Ravens in their home opener, there’s more questions than answers surrounding this Bengals team.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor remains consistent in his message about no one overreacting. But things feel different this time around. Mostly because of the status of star quarterback Joe Burrow.

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Burrow, after straining his calf on the second day of training camp causing him to miss all of the preseason, tweaked the same calf in the 27-24 loss to the Ravens. His status remains unclear and because of that, it’s hard to say with confidence the Bengals will definitely find their way out of this hole this time around.

As Taylor said, the “beauty” of the NFL is that it’s a 17-game season. There’s a lot of football left to be played and plenty of time for those questions to be answered.

But let's take a closer look at what exactly took place in the Week 2 loss to the Ravens:

Bengals struggled to affect Lamar Jackson in the pocket

When the Ravens have a healthy version of Jackson, they are a different team. Especially when they play the Bengals.

Jackson is 7-1 in games that he’s played against Cincinnati. He’s been unable to play in the last two meetings with the Bengals and he showed why it’s a different game when he’s starting at quarterback.

The Ravens netted 415 yards of total offense against the Bengals on Sunday. Cincinnati didn’t force its first punt until the middle of the fourth quarter. Baltimore was 9-of-14 on third down, completing 64% of their attempts.

Against a mobile quarterback like Jackson, the Bengals use a different rush plan. Cincinnati didn’t affect Jackson enough, simply put. The Bengals didn’t register a single quarterback hit or sack on Jackson. The NFL’s former MVP completed 24 of his 33 passes, good for a quarterback rating of 112.8.

“It’s a challenge,” Taylor said when asked about the lack of pressure. “There are pressures there where he’s elite with his movement skills. Some quarterbacks, the pressure would be there and affect him. For him, he just skips around it and is able to move on. You have to rush him differently. He does such a good job in the pocket. He’s one of the best passers in the league, and combined with his rushing skills, he makes it difficult.”

The Bengals have invested heavily in their defensive line over the last couple of years because of who they play in their division. Teams like Cleveland and Baltimore are built on their run game and Cincinnati has adjusted its roster accordingly.

Baltimore won at the line of scrimmage against the Bengals’ defensive front. They enforced their will and Cincinnati couldn’t stop it.

Slow starts on offense continue to cripple Cincinnati’s offense

The theme of slow starts continues to cripple the Bengals’ offense.

Cincinnati’s first offensive touchdown Sunday didn’t come until 2:38 to go in the third quarter. The Bengals were held without a touchdown in the Week 1 loss to the Browns and through the first half of Sunday’s loss.

Burrow addressed the need for faster starts on offense following the game.

“I think we always want to start fast,” he said. “Teams play us soft, keep everything in front. I think we did a good job of taking what they gave us today. But if you start fast, teams think twice about playing that way. So, we’ve got to start fast.”

So much of the faster starts is dependent on Burrow’s health moving forward. On a positive note, Burrow looked significantly more comfortable in the second half. Burrow completed 27 of his 41 pass attempts and threw for 222 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Wide receiver Tee Higgins’ play was also a bright spot for the Bengals. After not catching a pass against the Browns, Higgins racked up eight for 89 yards and two touchdowns against the Ravens.

The Bengals knew coming into this matchup against the Ravens that possessions were going to be at a premium. Baltimore is one of the NFL’s best rushing teams year in and year out and want to control the time of possession. It’s why getting a lead early against the Ravens is the key to success to force them out of what they want to do first and that’s run the ball.

“We’ve got to find ways to make those plays down the stretch to win these kinds of games,” Burrow said following the game. “Every time you play an AFC North team, it's going to look like that. You're going to have seven possessions, so you're going to have to make the most of them.”

The Ravens had 70 plays compared to the Bengals’ 57 plays. Each possession matters against this team.

Burrow reiterated his absence in the preseason continues to play a factor in the slow starts.

“Well, when your quarterback misses camp, it’s tough to start fast. So, it’s not an ideal situation."

The need to get Ja’Marr Chase ‘more involved’ in Bengals’ offense

Ja’Marr Chase’s production through two games is one of the most surprising storylines of the Bengals’ season. Chase has caught 10 passes for just 70 yards and zero touchdowns.

Against the Ravens who were down their top cover cornerback Marlon Humphrey, Chase wasn’t a factor. He finished the day with five catches for 31 yards.

“We'll go back and reevaluate that,” Burrow said. “We need to get him involved. He's our best player on offense, so we need to find a way to get him off.”

Chase’s ability to create explosive plays for the Bengals at any point in the game is one of the reasons Cincinnati’s offense has become so dynamic over the last two seasons.

Every game tells a different story but there’s an overarching theme with the Bengals that involves Chase. The Bengals feed off the energy they create offensively with fast starts and explosive plays from their wide receivers.

The emphasis on getting Chase more involved will surely be heightened over the next few weeks but so much of that is dependent on the health of No. 9.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Analysis: Who are these 0-2 Cincinnati Bengals?