Lions beat Bengals so badly that it may have ended Jake Browning's NFL career

The Detroit Lions appear to have gotten things firmly back on the rails in the 2025 season, as a season-opening loss has been followed up by four straight wins. Their Week 5 domination of Jake Browning and the Cincinnati Bengals was nothing short of a thorough outclassing.

Quarterback Jake Browning has only played in three-and-a-half starts this year, but he is already up there with some of the league leaders in interceptions with eight. The Lions had Browning completely bamboozled for most of this game, so much so that Browning may have lost his starting job.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor left the door open to a possible change in starting quarterback until Burrow gets back to full health. The Bengals might be willing to turn to either Brett Rypien or Mike White after Browning kept putting the ball in harm's way.

If either of them is an improvement on what Browning has provided (which is not hard to do), there is a very good chance that the former Washington star may have played his final game in the NFL. That is the hallmark of a truly dominant performance.

Lions beat Jake Browning so badly he may never start again

Once Burrow returns to the fray, he is obviously the unchallenged top dog in Cincinnati. If Browning is beaten out by Rypien or White, he may need to look elsewhere for a backup job as an aging player without physical tools.

New defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard has done a tremendous job filling in for New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn, and he understood exactly what he needed to do to force Browning into errant throws. Given his very weak arm for the NFL, the windows for Browning to throw into are smaller than they are for most quarterbacks.

Detroit's defensive line has been the subject of a great dal of criticism over the years, but they came to play against a Cincinnati offensive line that has long been maligned as one of the worst in the league. That type of performance is what the Lions needed to keep the momentum rolling.

Browning looks so out of whack against Detroit that a notoriously patient Bengals coaching staff and front office is going dissatisfied with his play. Sheppard may have put Browning in such a tight proverbial headlock that a player who will turn 30 next April might not be able to recover from it.

Should the Chiefs Cash in on Trent McDuffie? A Bold Take on Kansas City’s Defense

Our Mark Gunnels takes on the latest hot takes, wacky predictions and unpopular opinions about the Chiefs.

In our “Let’s Argue” series, our Mark Gunnels considers the hot takes, wacky predictions and unpopular opinions of Kansas City Chiefs fans from all over the world.

The Chiefs should trade Trent McDuffie

While this won’t be a popular take in Chiefs Kingdom, it has some merit.

You can make the case for trading the team’s All-Pro cornerback. After all, Kansas City could get a big return — and given general manager Brett Veach’s track record, it’s easy to imagine he can draft another talented defensive back.

We’re already seeing this kind of success with rookie Nohl Williams. As Mr. Brownstone noted, going into Week 4, Williams was PFF’s highest-graded NFL cornerback. The sample size is small, but it’s certainly a good indicator for where he’s headed in his career.

Still, I’d be surprised if Veach doesn’t lock up McDuffie in a long-term contract. Despite his unique ability to draft the position well — and with future Hall of Famer Chris Jones continuing to age — Kansas City needs McDuffie to be the face of the defense for the back half of quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ tenure.

At worst, we’re talking about a top-5 player at cornerback — and he’s only 23 years old.