The Cincinnati Bengals lost 13-9 to the Houston Texans on Thursday night in front of their home crowd, after getting shut out by the Baltmore Ravens 20-0 at home last week. Through two weeks of the season, the Bengals still don’t have a touchdown.
The Bengals did have one big play on Thurrsday night, when A.J. Green reeled in an Andy Dalton pass in triple coverage for a 50-yard gain.
However, Green would only see seven more targets on the night, and only had four more receptions for 17 yards. After you see him make a 50-yard reception in triple coverage, it’s especially perplexing that the Bengals wouldn’t try to get the ball Green’s way more. It’s unclear if that’s more on Dalton — who’s played terribly — or second-year offensive coordinator Ken Zampese. It’s likely some combination of both, and Dalton– 0 TD, 4 INT, 47.2 QB Rating this year — certainly isn’t doing a good job throwing the ball right now regardless.
Whatever the case, Green isn’t happy about his lack of opportunities, and the star wide receiver showed his frustration when meeting with the media after the Bengals’ loss.
Green said he believes he “could have made a lot of plays in the game” if given the opportunities, and the Bengals have to find a way to get their playmakers the ball: “It’s a superstar-driven league. You are not going to win without them.”
Frustrated AJ Green says "I feel like I could have made a lot of plays in the game if I were given opportunities" @WLWT #Bengals pic.twitter.com/gne4wqwbXs
— Mark Slaughter (@MarkVSlaughter) September 15, 2017
Green: "We can live with Andy missing a throw here or there, but when it’s crunch time we’ve got find a way to get our playmakers the ball."
— Richard Skinner (@Local12Skinny) September 15, 2017
More quotes from Green, via Cincinnati.Com:
“We are playing like sh– right now,” Green said, not stopping there. “We got to find a way to get our playmakers the ball. That’s it. It’s a superstar-driven league. You are not going to win without them.”
“Being one of the leaders of the offense I feel like – no disrespect to nobody else – that ball should be mine somewhere somehow,” Green said of the team’s final drive. “That’s my mentality. In those situations, I want the ball. As the leader of the offense, you should be like that. I wanted that ball.”
“This offense doesn’t go without us, we have to be involved more early,” Green said. “Get (Brandon LaFell) the ball early, get John (Ross) the ball earlier. As one of the leaders of the offense, I feel we need a spark and need the ball in my hands somewhere, somehow. You have to find a way to get me the ball and we are not doing that right now.”
Bengals fans and Green’s fantasy owners surely nod in agreement to these quotes. It will be interesting to see if the Bengals finally try to go to Green more in Week 3, and they likely have to in order to have any shot of hanging with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
