The Cincinnati Bengals went back to the Bungle days on Sunday. They were embarrassed against the Indianapolis Colts during a 27-0 drubbing in Week 7.
Bengals fantasy recap: A.J. Green is more important than we thought
The Bengals miss A.J. Green badly. We break down the fantasy implications.
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They were three and out on each of their first 10 possessions and converted just one of their 13 chances on third down. That obviously led to a ridiculous 40-20 time of possession. The Bengals will have to lick their wounds before they kick off a three-game home stand against the Baltimore Ravens next week.
Andy Dalton: Cue the sad trombone for this one. Dalton had a putrid 3.3 yards per attempt against the Colts, completing just 18 of 38 attempts for 126 yards, no scores and no interceptions. He was also sacked three times.
Basically, he needs A.J. Green back and not having a legit deep threat hurts their offense badly. While Mohamed Sanu is no slouch, he doesn't really have any help. Dalton was a solid QB1 in fantasy leagues last year, but he's been a massive letdown after a huge pay day in the offseason.
He doesn’t have a great schedule, so he’ll likely just be a QB2 the rest of the way.
Giovani Bernard: He was shut down today big time. Bernard had just 17 rushing yards on seven carries to go with two catches for -1 yards. Not good.
He was coming off a career-high 137 rushing yards last week against the Carolina Panthers, so this dud comes as a surprise. Gio couldn't get into space and he's not really ever going to thrive between the tackles.
Fantasy owners can obviously give him a pass here and the return of A.J. Green should help him. He's a RB1 in PPR leagues and an RB2 in standards.
Mohamed Sanu: Fantasy owners cashed in on Sanu last week, but this week it just didn’t happen. He had just three catches for 54 yards on his nine targets. Andy Dalton just couldn’t get him the ball even on the short routes and perhaps last week’s explosion was more about how terrible the Carolina Panthers are in the secondary.
With A.J. Green getting back soon, we’ve obviously seen the best out of Sanu. If you’re in a shallow league and want to make an add for a hot waiver-wire guy, he’s certainly expendable.
Jermaine Gresham: How is it even possible for a player to catch 10 balls for less than 50 yards? Well, that's what Jermaine Gresham did with his catches for just 48 yards.
In fact, only Cris Carter had fewer yards receiving yards on 10-plus catches among non-RBs in NFL history. Gresham has been a major letdown since the Bengals selected him in the first round.
Worse yet, it stings even more with New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham and New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski going later in that draft.
