Since Joe Burrow went down in Week 2 against the Jacksonville Jaguars with a turf toe injury, the Cincinnati Bengals have struggled to compete in their last two games. The Bengals were blown out by the Minnesota Vikings 48-10 and lost 28-3 to the Denver Broncos on Monday night.
The Bengals have been outscored 76-13 without Burrow at quarterback, and backup Jake Browning has struggled to find his footing since taking over the starting role. In the last three games, Browning has thrown for 506 yards, three touchdowns, and five interceptions.
The Bengals' struggles on both offense and defense are a positive sign for the Detroit Lions heading into their matchup against Cincinnati on Sunday. While nothing is guaranteed, the Lions should be able to dominate on both sides of the football, given how the Bengals have looked the last two weeks.
Bengals' struggles without Joe Burrow
While Sunday's matchup would be more intriguing if Burrow were in at quarterback for the Bengals, Lions fans won't have any complaints beating up on a depleted Cincinnati team as they look to improve to 4-1 on the season.
Despite the Lions being a heavy favorite on Sunday with Burrow out, there are still several players who can present some problems for Detroit on both sides of the football. On defense, Trey Hendrickson on the Lions will look to break Detroit's offensive line streak of allowing a sack.
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Defensively, for the Lions, Bengals wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are talented offensive weapons for Cincinnati that can take advantage of Detroit's secondary. While Browning has had his struggles, there have been some cases where he has performed well, including in 2023 when the Burrow-less Bengals competed with the Kansas City Chiefs in the second-to-last week of the season, losing 25-17.
The last time the Bengals and Lions faced off
Much has changed since the last time the Lions and the Bengals faced off in an NFL game. The two teams last met in Dan Campbell's first season as head coach for the Lions in week 6 of the 2021 NFL season.
The Bengals beat the Lions 34-17 at Ford Field in a season that featured Cincinnati going to the Super Bowl, where they fell 23-20 to the Los Angeles Rams. The Lions finished the 2021 season with a 3-13-1 record and drafted Aidan Hutchinson with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.