Bengals-Lions takeaways: Is Browning’s job in jeopardy?

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning talks with the media after an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

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Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning talks with the media after an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

The Cincinnati Bengals might be able to take something positive from their fourth-quarter effort in a 37-24 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, but it’s going to take a while for quarterback Jake Browning to get over the part he played in the defeat.

Three interceptions put pressure on his defense, which had held the league’s top-scoring offense to 14 points in the first half, and the third one, two plays into the second half, prevented the Bengals from double-dipping after getting on the board with a field goal just before halftime.

The game was lost there, despite Cincinnati cutting down a 25-point deficit to 11 points twice with three straight touchdown drives in the fourth quarter as the Bengals dropped a third straight loss.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

1. Browning’s job could be in jeopardy

After a third straight game of offensive struggles, coach Zac Taylor deflected blame off his quarterback and said he, as the play-calling head coach, needs to put the offense in a better position to be successful.

Browning said he appreciated Taylor trying to take some of the pressure off him, but he was forcing throws and “that’s just bad football” with three interceptions. Clearly frustrated and deflated, Browning said he felt he “let down the whole team, let down the fans, and there’s no hiding from that.”

Taylor acknowledged he heard fans booing and probably wanting a change at quarterback, but Taylor said he still felt like Browning gave the team the best chance to win, despite being down 28-3 after three quarters. Backup Brett Rypien never appeared to be warming up at any point, and Browning validated Taylor’s vote of confidence with three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter.

Detroit Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes (55) reacts to sacking Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning (6) for a safety during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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The late bounce-back wasn’t enough, though. Browning has thrown eight interceptions over 15 quarters of football this season, and the Bengals went 19 drives over three games without a touchdown going into the fourth quarter. Asked if he still believes in Browning going forward, Taylor said he still believes Browning can win games for them but opened the door to exploring other options.

“After a game like that, we’re going to look at all personnel to make sure we’re doing the right thing,” Taylor said. “I won’t shy away from that because it’s a very fair question after the amount of turnovers that we had.”

The leash almost certainly is at least shorter. In seven starts and a 4-3 record in 2023, Browning threw just seven picks.

2. Is there something to build on?

The Bengals’ offense struggled until the fourth quarter, and Browning said he was just putting too much pressure on himself to make plays. That’s when he was forcing passes and on three occasions throwing right to a Detroit defender.

After the third pick, Cincinnati had one more three-and-out before suddenly things started clicking. Browning said he just got into a rhythm.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Ja’Marr Chase made an incredible catch on a 15-yard pass from Browning and managed to keep his feet in bounds to give the Bengals their first touchdown since Week 3. He caught a deep ball on the next drive for a 64-yard touchdown pass to make it an 11-point game with 10:22 left.

Tee Higgins, who caught a 2-yard touchdown pass to cap Cincinnati’s scoring, said the fourth quarter was a reminder “it’s there.”

“The spark is there, we just need to get it going early,” Higgins said.

Perhaps that is something to build on. Players in the locker room after the game said there is still belief the team can turn things around, and the “no-quit” attitude showed and paid off in the fourth quarter, but Higgins said the Bengals have to turn that into a win ASAP. The next chance is Sunday at Green Bay.

The fans were already losing faith in the first quarter, after a failed conversion on third-and-15 the first drive. Cincinnati got booed coming off the field as the punt team came on.

“That’s tough to hear, obviously, because us as a team, we want to make the city proud and we haven’t been doing that the past two weeks,” Higgins said. “It’s tough to hear the boos, but our plan is to turn it around and get those cheers back.”

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, right, celebrates his 64-yard touchdown reception with Tee Higgins, left, against the Detroit Lions during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

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3. Defense doing enough

Although the final score doesn’t reflect it, the Bengals defense was doing what it could to keep them in the game. It just wasn’t sustainable, Taylor said.

The Bengals trailed just 14-3 at halftime despite two turnovers, a lot of short drives and giving up bad field position to put the defense in tough spots. The game didn’t feel out of reach until Browning’s third pick.

Detroit took advantage of a short field twice after turnovers to score 14 of its points, including on the Lions’ first drive of the second half when linebacker Alex Anzalone intercepted Browning. They scored five plays later and again on the next possession to make it 28-3.

The Lions finished with 365 yards of offense, including 118 yards rushing, but again, the defense was on the field a lot and it was an improvement over last week’s 500-plus yards allowed at Denver. Cincinnati did force one turnover when Trey Hendrickson sacked Jared Goff and popped the ball out of his hand, and Hendrickson finished with two sacks.

Taylor said that should have been enough to stay in the game.

Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) sacks Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

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“Our defense has given us what we needed over the first half of these games,” Taylor said. “It’s hard to sustain that over four quarters when there’s turnovers and punts and there’s no points coming on the board, especially teams like that and Denver, who can do a little bit of everything and keep you off balance. … We put them in an incredibly difficult bind, and all they have done is bow up and do everything they can to keep us in the game, and I’ve got to do a better job as the play caller to bail them out.”

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