UKHTTC blog: touching down with the Bengals UK

The Washington Commanders are top of the NFC East pile going into Week 3 of the NFL season.

Standing in the way of a second successive win are the Cincinnati Bengals and an intriguing Monday Night Football game on the road.

Last Sunday, the Commanders, despite being touchdown-shy, were victorious owing mostly to the trusty boot of the new placekicker in town: Austin Siebert. Going 7 from 7, albeit from the kind of range whereby you’d expect to see the football fly between the posts, Siebert set a franchise record for the Commanders.

Austin was duly lofted onto the shoulders of bigger-framed teammates to celebrate the victory vs the Giants at the newly named Northwest Stadium.

It was also a great day for Brian Robinson Jnr who went for 133 yards at just shy of eight yards per carry. Meanwhile, rookie QB Jayden Daniels continued to show huge promise as the team wisely stick to the plan and process for introducing the playbook and fastness of the NFL to #5.

Looking ahead to Monday. here at UKHTTC, founder Christian Burt took time out with Bengals UK, the home of the fan community here in the UK.

Christian: from the outside looking in, the Bengals are a win-now team but with a two games two defeats record. Are there any panic buttons being hit in Cincinnati right now?

Bengals UK: I would say semi-panic.

Like many external observers, we expected to beat the Patriots in week one, but came out inexplicably flat (a trait in the Zac Taylor era when it comes to starting the season), which left many of us scratching our heads.

I think most predicted a loss against the Chiefs in Arrowhead, but we wanted to see an improved performance, which we certainly - and mercifully - did. One silver lining to these strange, difficult-to-explain poor starts is we know that we can get on a run and turn things around.

The Bengals have given up +300 yards on the ground this season after just two games. Injuries seem to be a factor here?

Hugely, but not exclusively. We decided not to re-sign behemoth and fan favourite, DJ Reader, who was a Pro Bowl-level true nose tackle. And we also decided to let go his back-up, Josh Tupou, who was also very capable.

We drafted two DTs and they are injured, although there is some hope that second-rounder, Kris Jenkins, will be back for MNF. But he's no DJ Reader and it's unfair to expect a rookie - however talented - to come in and do the job.

What makes things worse is that our two starting DTs - BJ Hill and Sheldon Rankins were both injured during the chiefs game. Not ideal.

The frustrating thing is that we all knew the run Defense was going to be a problem, and many of us think that wasn't adequately addressed in FA or the draft.

What was your impression of the Bengals in FA and the Draft?

Obviously unhappy about DJ Reader's departure (and Tupou), and many fans are still emotional about Joe Mixon's exit, but we did sign some nice pieces - safety Geno Stone, tight end Mike Gesicki, bring back Vonn Bell, running back Zach Moss... it was good.

The draft had a bit of a boom or bust feel to it - if the likes of OT and man mountain Amarius Mims can stay healthy then watch out, Jermaine Burton could be a steal from the third round, and we're already getting some seriously good production from our fourth-round rookie tight end, Erik All. But... we drafted two DTs (currently injured) and two TEs. Slightly odd.

A match up you fear for the Washington game and a matchup you like

Fearful? The Washington running game, full stop. Robinson, Daniels and Ekeler will no doubt feast.

I like our receivers against your secondary. QB Joe Burrow looked almost back to his best last week against the Chiefs, and Gesicki has been exactly what most of us had hoped for - a true receiving tight end and a really great addition.

Jermaine Burton will start to see more time and he has a lot of play-making ability, while Tee Higgins is looking like he might play.

Score prediction and likely end-season records for the Bengals

It's our Ring of Honour game as well as Monday Night Football, so I'm hoping it'll be a cracking game. I genuinely think it could be. We're a talented but flawed team, and we do very much need to win.  31-27 Bengals.

As for the season, I did think we looked like a 12-win team but perhaps I should revise that. I still think, if we play to our capabilities, some of our skill position guys can paper over some cracks. I'll go 11-6.

Tell us a little bit more about the fan community in the UK for the Bengals

We're celebrating our 10th anniversary this year, so it's been fun reflecting and celebrating our achievements - we've brewed our own beer, we've released our own cookbook, we've established links with the city of Cincinnati and done things that no other fan group has ever done before.

Like every man, woman and everyone else in between, we have a weekly podcast, too. It's a good time to be a Bengals fan, so it's all about enjoying the moment.