Cincinnati Bengals could fall out of the chase without their star receiver

Cincinnati has a fatal flaw. The offensive line faced major scrutiny last season, viewed as the weak link on the AFC-winning team. 

What looked like a potential nightmare turned into a miserable reality for Cincinnati Monday night as the team fell to the Cleveland Browns, 32-13. 

Burrow, as has been the case throughout his career, was under constant duress. The Browns finished with five sacks for 39 yards.

Garrett recorded 1.5 sacks, giving him six sacks in four games against Burrow.

There’s no question that Burrow is a star. He’s proven he’s a special quarterback that can lead teams to championships. 

How head coach Zac Taylor goes about protecting the team’s biggest asset will determine if Cincinnati is a contender for years to come.

The Bengals threw money at their biggest flaw. It hasn’t worked. At a certain point, the problem will be viewed as schematic instead of player related.

That the team was without Chase could excuse some of the team's issues if they weren't persistent traits.

With Chase set to miss three-to-five more weeks, that could spell doom for the Bengals. They went from putting up huge numbers against Atlanta to looking like this:

Burrow finished 25-of-35 for 232 with two touchdowns and an interception and a lost fumble. His QBR (17.6) was well below his season average (53.5).

The Bengals were a surprising story a year ago. They've fallen behind in the chase this year. Monday night showed just how far.