Bengals and Broncos seek to bounce back after crushing defeats

DENVER (AP) — The medicine comes Monday night for the Cincinnati Bengals or the Denver Broncos. The Bengals (2-1) are coming off the worst loss in franchise history, a 48-10 drubbing at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings in their first game since franchise quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a toe injury that required surgery. The Broncos (1-2) have lost on walk-off field goals in back-to-back games despite never trailing in the fourth quarter. Denver failed to close out the Colts and the Chargers on the road. The Broncos' five combined fourth-quarter drives in those games netted a missed 42-yard field goal indoors, two three-and-outs, a red-zone interception and a chip-shot field goal that followed first-and-goal from the 5. Last week, Bo Nix overthrew a wide-open receiver three times on deep balls in Denver's 23-20 loss, hallmarks of a sputtering start that's raised questions about whether coach Sean Payton put too much on Nix's plate or his shoulders by talking up his second-year quarterback and the Broncos' Super Bowl chances. "I don't think so," Nix said Thursday. "I think it's better than him talking about how tough of a season it's going to be. So, I'd rather have the confidence going in and have the whole season to play and just get to go out there and play it out (rather than) a coach that doesn't really have the confidence in us." Addressing Nix's overthrows — and his footwork on the heaves — was about 50th on Payton's to-do list this week and Nix said he wasn't overly concerned about them, either. "I know I'm going to miss several throws in the future and I'm probably going to miss a few deep ones," Nix said. "I've just got to keep throwing them." The Bengals won their first two games but lost Burrow in Week 2 and were awful last week at Minnesota, turning the ball over five times. They surrendered two defensive touchdowns and the other three gaffes resulted in 17 more Vikings points. Jake Browning has already thrown five interceptions in the seven quarters he has played. Coach Zac Taylor said the game plan doesn't change much with Browning in for Burrow, but Cincinnati will need to be more balanced on offense. The Bengals are averaging only 2.4 yards per carry, and lead back Chase Brown is getting hit behind the line of scrimmage on nearly 80% of his carries. Brown is averaging only 2 yards per carry through three games. "I think it's unfair to put it on a player," Taylor said. "It's on all of us offensively, collectively, to find a better answer." Uncorking Higgins Cincinnati receiver Tee Higgins has just seven receptions for 104 yards so far and last week he caught just one of two passes thrown his way for 15 yards. But a trip to Denver might just be the antidote. Last December, he caught 11 passes for 131 yards and three TDs in the Bengals' 30-24 overtime win over the Broncos. He had a dozen targets in that game alone but has 14 combined targets in 2025. "That's the thing about our guys, there's not an ego involved in any of this," Taylor said. "There's been games before where some of our main guys have caught a ball or have been targeted once. They know the next game might be 12 targets and 10 catches." Mile High magic The Broncos have won six consecutive home games, prompting wide receiver Courtland Sutton to declare, "They don't call it home-field advantage for nothing." Part of that advantage is the altitude. "Our guys understand what it's gonna feel like a little bit," Taylor said. "You can get winded. Countless times I've been there. ... So as the game goes, you just have to be mindful of which guys are getting a lot of reps and try to give them breaks when you can." Close-out conundrums A play here, a play there, and the Broncos would be among the league's 3-0 teams. "I think that's the crazy thing," Nix said. "We've played really good opponents and we've led in the end of the game. We're one play in the fourth quarter away from putting the game out of reach. It's going to be soon that we make that play. "But we definitely have to learn from these losses and learn why we're not finishing the game, learn why we're not putting the game out (reach). When you play a good team and you don't do that and you keep letting them hang around, they're going to find a play. So, we've got to be the team that finds that play."