Through two games of the season, the Cincinnati Bengals have still not scored a touchdown: The Bengals got shut out to start the season with a 20-0 loss to the Ravens, then they managed only field goals in last night’s 13-9 loss to the Texans.
That’s bad, but it’s not that unusual. Quite a few teams have failed to find the end zone in the first two games of the season. Just last year the Rams didn’t have any touchdowns in their first two games.
But the Bengals had better cross the goal line next week, or else they’re in some really ugly company: The last team to fail to score a touchdown in the first three games of the season was the 1976 Buccaneers, an expansion franchise that is often recognized as the worst team in NFL history. Any time you’re drawing comparisons to the 1976 Buccaneers, you’re in very, very bad shape.
The Bengals are already the first team since the 1939 Eagles to open the season with two games at home and not score a touchdown in either of them. (In fairness, it’s rare for teams to open with two games at home.)
The Bengals travel to Green Bay next week to face a Packers defense that kept the Seahawks out of the end zone in Week One. It may be a while before we see a Bengal in the end zone.