The grim playoff stat that will worry Bengals fans as shock Commanders defeat leaves them 0-3

It’s panic button time for fans of the Cincinnati Bengals after their crushing and shocking Monday Night Football defeat to the Washington Commanders.

With this 38-33 defeat to Washington in Week 3, the Bengals now fall to 0-3 on the season – paired with losses to the struggling New England Patriots and the high-flying Kansas City Chiefs.

Fortunately for Bengals fans, 10 of the 16 teams in the AFC have either 0-3 or 1-2 records – meaning at least one team has to make the playoffs.

The bad news is that history – and statistics – are not on their side to be one of those teams to make it in.

Between the 1990 and 2023 seasons, 162 teams have started the season 0-3. Only four of those teams have made the playoffs.

Jayden Daniels torched the Bengals defense – completing all but two passes on the night

That constitutes just two-and-a-half percent of all 0-3 teams to make the playoffs.

Those four teams are: the 1992 San Diego Chargers, the 1995 Detroit Lions, the 1998 Buffalo Bills, and the 2018 Houston Texans.

Of those four teams, the Chargers and Texans won their divisions while the Lions and Bills made it in as wild card teams.

Additionally, of those four teams, only the 1992 Chargers were able to win a game in the playoffs – beating the Kansas City Chiefs 17-0 in the Wild Card round before falling to the Miami Dolphins 31-0 in the Divisional round.

The Bengals are one of seven teams that have allowed 80 points or more this season – joined by a fellow 0-3er in the Jacksonville Jaguars, as well as the Las Vegas Raiders, the Washington Commanders, the Dallas Cowboys, the Carolina Panthers, and the Los Angeles Rams.

The fault for the Bengals loss doesn’t lie at the feet of quarterback Joe Burrow – who completed 29-of-38 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns. 

Rather, the Bengals defense gave up three straight touchdowns to open the first half and three straight scoring drives to open the second half. In fact, the only two drives that the Commanders didn’t score were to kneel the ball down to end both halves. 

Jayden Daniels torched the Bengals secondary – completing 21-of-23 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns.

Across three games, the Bengals defense has only forced seven total punts – five of which came against New England, two came against Kansas City, and the Commanders never punted.

Bengals coach Zac Taylor will hope to right the ship with a win over the Carolina Panthers

They’ll look to right the ship this Sunday with a matchup against the Carolina Panthers – who won their most recent game after benching Bryce Young.

Carolina is now led by Andy Dalton – the former Bengals quarterback – who looked like his old self in their 36-22 win over the Raiders.

Dalton completed 26-of-37 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns in his first win as a starter since January 1, 2023 when he was with the New Orleans Saints.