Jake Browning outperforms Trevor Siemian against the Falcons

When Brandon Allen signed with the San Francisco 49ers, the Cincinnati Bengals were left with no clear QB2. After the Bengals signed veteran Trevor Siemian, it seemed they had found reliability at the position.

Unfortunately, Siemian, who has 30 starts under his belt, has failed to separate himself from Jake Browning, a 27-year-old QB with zero meaningful snaps to his name.

Browning got the start against the Green Bay Packers but wasn’t able to move the ball particularly well (10/17, 95 yards passing, zero touchdowns, one interception). Siemian, though, fared about the same (15/28, 121 yards passing, zero touchdowns, and one interception).

Still, the team seemed to favor the QB with greater arm talent and 42 career touchdown passes all along, and so they gave Siemian the start against the Atlanta Falcons, a game in which the Bengals played a number of defensive starters as well.

But Siemian gave the team no reason to believe he can effectively fill in for Joe Burrow. The veteran was just 7/14 for 62 yards passing with zero touchdowns. He led the Bengals to just three points in four drives in the first half.

Browning then entered the game and got Cincinnati three more points. He would throw an interception with under six minutes left in the game, then somewhat made up for it with a go-ahead touchdown drive with just 50 seconds left.

Along the way, he had some impressive plays.

While Browning ended up with modest passing stats (16/22, 140 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception), his impact was a little greater. He also ran for 50 yards on the ground.

And he had a deep shot to Shedrick Jackson that drew a 30-yard pass interference call and got the Bengals to the 15-yard line for an Evan McPherson field goal. Lastly, he completed an 18-yard pass to Andrei Iosivas with under two minutes left to set up a Chase Brown touchdown.

Most importantly, Browning gave the offense life with his feistiness and energy. So unless Siemian shows he can again be the quarterback who started 14 games for the Denver Broncos in 2016, Browning should be the favorite right now.

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