Bengals Historically Poor Run Game Drops Offense to League-Worst Status

 The Bengals have arguably the worst offense in the NFL through three games, and the historically bad rushing attack is a big reason why. Chase Brown has set a dubious mark with 45 carries for just 93 yards.

He has posted the fewest rushing yards of any running back since 2000 to carry the ball at least 45 times. Cincinnati is by far the worst rushing team in the NFL at 49 yards per game (next closest is 63 yards per game).

"When we're playing from behind, they're just chomping at the bit to tee off on us in the pass rush and the run game," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said about the historic issues. "There's a lot we have to prove in the run game. It's not pretty right now. We're not going to run from that. We've got to really identify where we're going to be in the run game, what we're going to hang our hat on, and who we're going to run behind. I mean, there's a lot of that going on that we gotta really sort out and identify problems and be able to correct them, on the run and during the course of the week."

Cincinnati hasn't come close to ranking in the top half of the NFL by yards per carry as a team at any point in Taylor's tenure, and now he doesn't have Joe Burrow to make up for the issues. The team has never averaged over 4.1 yards per carry across a full season under Taylor.

The Bengals averaged four YPC when Jake Browning took over for Burrow in 2023. Now, they are at 2.4 through three games. Mix that in with five turnovers from Browning in two outings, and you get the worst offense in the sport by EPA/play generated.

Cincinnati won't be in the playoff race much longer if this continues.