Jon Gruden brutally calls Bengals a 'paper champion' ahead of Week 2

The Cincinnati Bengals are 1-0. Jon Gruden is not impressed.

Cincinnati found a way to win its opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but Gruden came away with plenty of questions about what he saw. With Houston up next, the former Super Bowl winning coach made it clear he is not ready to buy into the Bengals just yet.

Jon Gruden is not buying the Bengals yet

Gruden and his brother, Jay Gruden, broke down Bengals versus Texans on the latest "Gruden Family Football Show," and the conversation quickly turned to Cincinnati's Week 1 performance.

The Bengals forced four turnovers, which helped them survive a day when their offense never really took over.

Then Gruden delivered his assessment.

"I still think they're a paper champion right now," Gruden said.

That is a strong label for a team that opened the season with a win, but Gruden had another issue with what he saw from Cincinnati.

Ja'Marr Chase was unusually quiet.

"We got to call Joe Burrow and introduce him to his star player, Ja'Marr Chase," Gruden joked.

Gruden pointed to a goal line play where Chase created separation, only for Burrow to throw to the flat instead. His criticism was not directed at Chase. In fact, Gruden expects Cincinnati to make a much bigger effort to get its star receiver involved against Houston.

"He will be a problem this week for the Texans," Gruden said.