The Cincinnati Bengals’ 48-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday marked the worst beatdown in franchise history.
The Bengals badly missed starting quarterback Joe Burrow, who will be benched for the next three months as he recovers from surgery on a turf toe injury. Down 48-3, the Bengals faced the largest deficit in franchise history before scoring their first touchdown. It took Cincinnati 49 minutes to reach the end zone, and by then the game was already well out of hand.
Not only did Cincinnati have trouble moving the ball, held to 53 rushing yards, but the team couldn’t protect the ball either. Five different Bengals players fumbled — Chase Brown, Cam Grandy, Noah Fant, Ja’Marr Chase and Samaje Perine — and three of them resulted in turnovers.
Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers scored two defensive touchdowns, first on an 87-yard pick-six and then on a 66-yard fumble return.
Quarterback Jake Browning finished 19-for-27 for 140 yards and tossed two interceptions. The Vikings were also playing behind their backup quarterback, Carson Wentz, as starter J.J. McCarthy deals with an ankle injury. But with such a comfortable lead, the Vikings put in third-string Max Brosmer with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Prior to Sunday, the four worst losses in Bengals history each came by 37 points. The Bengals, now 2-1, face the Broncos on Monday Night Football next week.
The four worst losses in #Bengals history. Currently down 38 and just threw another pick. pic.twitter.com/DwkrFRARNU
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) September 21, 2025
A Burrow-less Bengals struggle
Life will be hard enough without Burrow the rest of the year; this Bengals team can’t survive his absence while committing a pile of unforced errors. Cincinnati turned the ball over four times, including fumbles on three of the final four snaps of the first half. Those four turnovers led to 24 Vikings points, 14 of which were touchdown returns by Rodgers.
On the surface, the Bengals’ defense did some good things, getting pressure on Wentz, and the offense had multiple drives into Vikings territory. But none of that mattered when two of these ended in return touchdowns. The margin of error becomes exponentially smaller when playing with a backup quarterback, and the Bengals have to play turnover-free football to contend this year. Sunday serves as an exacerbated example of that. — Paul Dehner Jr., senior Bengals writer
What to do about Cincinnati’s run game
The Bengals’ lack of run game has officially become a major problem. Cincinnati tried to go under center more with Chase Brown, but there was zero room to run. The Bengals entered with the worst yards per carry on the ground, and that number only got worse. Brown had nine carries for six yards at the break.
Zac Taylor resorted to quick screens to the outside and gadget plays, attempting to get any semblance of movement on the ground. Those were moderately successful, but it didn’t matter because the standard runs were keeping the offense behind the sticks. They need to be able to run the ball to offset what’s missing without Burrow. There are no quick fixes in sight right now. — Dehner
