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          'Three points ain't going to win it': What continues to plague Bengals

          • Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterOct 2, 2020, 06:00 AM ET
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              Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN's NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
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          CINCINNATI -- Quarterback Andy Dalton looked to his left and cocked his arm back before disaster struck.

          As the rain came down in Seattle during the second half of the Cincinnati Bengals' 2019 season opener against the Seahawks, the wet ball slipped out of Dalton's hands, squirted on to the turf and was smothered by a defender. The fumble ended a red zone drive early in the second half of coach Zac Taylor's debut and foreshadowed a problem that still plagues the winless Bengals.

          It's early in 2020 and scoring touchdowns in the red zone is still a major problem for Cincinnati, which is danger of going winless after four weeks in consecutive years for the first time since the 1999-00 seasons.

          The Bengals rank 28th in red zone efficiency heading into Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars (1 p.m. ET, CBS). Dating back to the beginning of last season, the Bengals are 31st in that category.

          For Cincinnati to pick up its first win of the season, coaches and players know they can't keep settling for field goals when they get within the opponent's 20-yard line.

          "Three points ain't going to win it in this league," Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd said after Sunday's 23-23 tie against the Philadelphia Eagles.

          Even with Dalton gone and top overall draft pick Joe Burrow the starting quarterback, the tie underscored the importance of maximizing possessions.

          The Bengals couldn't capitalize on a turnover and great position and had a drive stall at the Eagles' 13-yard line in the third quarter. On the next drive, a false start on first-and-goal at the 4-yard line led to another field goal.

          "If we punch that one red zone drive in where we ended up settling for the field goal, then we win this game," Burrow said. "We had a good rhythm going there for part of that game."

          Some of the red zone problems can be attributed to a lack of execution from players, coaches, or a combination of both. But mental errors, like the false start penalty against Philadelphia, derail a potential touchdown drive.

          "Whenever you go backward in the red zone, it makes life really hard," Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said.

          Running back Giovani Bernard said the offense needs to have the right mentality when it comes to finishing drives.

          "I wanna score, man," Bernard said. "When you get past that 50, for me, once you get into that territory, it's an opportunity to put some points up on the board, period."

          The Bengals have yet to figure out why the offense struggles in the red zone through 15 games with Taylor. And those issues aren't exclusive to one portion of the field. The Bengals are averaging 1.83 points per drive, according to ESPN Stats & Information, which ranks 26th in the NFL.

          In 2019, Dalton ranked next to last in red zone QBR among qualifying quarterbacks, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Through three games, Burrow is better in that regard but still toward the bottom of the league. Burrow's red zone QBR of 35.2 ranks 24th out of 33 quarterbacks.

          It's one thing to know what's wrong. Fixing it is proving to be an entirely different matter.

          "We have to score more touchdowns," Boyd said on Sunday. "We're a high-powered offense that I continue to praise year in and year out, but if we can't find ways to score with the talent that we have I don't know how we're going to get it done."