Panic level for the 0-2 Cincinnati Bengals | Zero Blitz

Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz and Frank Schwab hop on Zero Blitz to discuss another disappointing outing for the Cincinnati Bengals, this week again the Baltimore Ravens, and debate what level of panic the team and the fans should have after starting 0-2.

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Video Transcript

[UPBEAT MUSIC]

JASON FITZ: I am shocked that the Bengals are 0 and 2 and maybe it's just because, like, frankly, I had such high expectations, but Baltimore at Cincinnati, we had a lot of questions coming into this one. I thought it was a great prove-it game. I said this week for both offenses to show whether Lamar could really open up and to show if you know Burrow was going to get the timing right. Burrow just looks out of sync, man. Like, it didn't look good. And then an injury at the end of the game, we'll see. But how much are you panicking right now? Because, like, if I'm a Bengals fan, I am full-- I say it all the time, I'm Kermit the Frogging in it. I'm running around flopping my hands in the air going, aah, all over the place. I'm scared.

FRANK SCHWAB: This year's 0 and 2 for the Bengals just seems different than last year. Last year was kind of like, OK, this is a slow start, but I'll get it going. This year-- look, this game-- the way I bet games, I take the ugliest teams from week one, and I bet them in week two, right? The Bengals were awful in week one, and I'm like, the Bengals are going to get right. They're a talented team. They're at home. The Ravens had, I believe, four key injuries in this game, starters, good starters who were out of the lineup-- Ronnie Stanley, Linderbaum, Dobbins, Marcus Williams.

And I thought the Bengals were going to kill them. The Bengals are just going to get right. They're going to roll. Burrow is going to look awesome. And then you look up at halftime, and he had like 43 yards. It's like, is this Joe Burrow, the highest paid player in NFL history? What is going on? He got a little bit warm in the second half, but they-- it never seemed like they were going to win that game ever. The Ravens just seemed like the better team. John Harbaugh is awesome. Lamar just played his game. He didn't-- he wasn't-- this wasn't like, MVP Monday night six touchdowns Lamar.

This was just Lamar making plays all over the field when he had to. And the Ravens come out of this game and they win, and you're like, you're watching Joe Burrow limp to the middle of the field at the end of the game. Limp badly to the end of the field. And you're like, I don't know if this is going to turn around that easily for the Bengals. Talented team. They have a pedigree of the last couple of years, deep playoff runs. This is going to be a tougher hole to get out of than it was last year.

JASON FITZ: Some years the football gods looked down and they're like, yes, this is your year. You may have all the blessings, and some years the football gods look down on the field and they're like, not you, right? Like, this felt like that not you, fat Jesus moment. Like, it just isn't clicking for Cincinnati. And I look over at Baltimore, and, frankly, I still don't think that their offense has clicked the way it's going to. Like, they're still a little bit-- like, it's good. It's getting there. It's a work in progress. So for a work in progress offense to go in there and get the win, I mean, if I'm Cincinnati, I'm in full panic mode. Like, Baltimore's got to feel pretty good. Cincinnati has got to be wondering what makes things get right. And I don't know. If Burrow misses any extended time, then we're going to start asking ourselves, I think, is this a lost season for Cincinnati?

FRANK SCHWAB: You're 0 and 2. You get to 0 and 3, 0 and 4, you're not getting out of that hole. Ja'Marr has like 70 yards this season? Like, that was a quarter for him sometimes last year. He was just balling out of his mind. There's just-- it's just something is off. Something is off with this Bengals team. They looked uncomfortable all game, and you thought week one, it was like, OK, bad weather. Jim Schwartz had a really good game plan. The Browns played well. But this is two weeks in a row, and you get too far behind in the NFL, you're not digging out of it. I'm with you. I think this is time to push a panic button even at 0 and 2 just because it's hard to see them digging out of this hole with everything looking off.