After losing 27-3 to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night. The Cincinnati Bengals have lots of room to improve heading into Week 5. With their season already in a tattered state record-wise.

Familiar issues re-emerged in another Bengals Monday night meltdown. Issues playing a role in the Bengals 0-4 start to the season. From a sluggish offense that struggled past the 50 yard line. Along with a defensive unit that is struggling to keep up. Here are key takeaways from Monday and effectively this season’s first quarter.

A non-existent offense

First, the Bengals offense had another lousy game. Instead of the one half offense seen so far; the Bengals offense was practically invisible on Monday night. Mirroring their performance in Week 2 against the San Francisco 49ers. Cincinnati struggled to find the red zone most of the time. They continued a season long trend of not scoring in their first drive. While not scoring a touchdown for the first time in a game this season. Only scoring through a Randy Bullock field goal in the first quarter.

New coach, same Andy

Monday was another awful night for Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton. He was sacked eight times and threw an interception. Despite a new coaching staff, Dalton’s performance mirrored his often lackluster performances against Pittsburgh. Beyond Dalton, Cincinnati’s offense missed a several opportunities to keep the game close. Even blundering a chance to potentially take the lead going into halftime.

Defensive struggles to contain Pittsburgh’s playmakers

The Bengals defense mostly contained the Steelers in the first half. Nick Vigil and Jesse Bates had some big plays in that half. Combining for a forced fumble that set up the Bengals lone scoring drive. They kept JuJu Smith-Schuster from being a big playmaker. Before melting down in the third, they mostly kept a bad game from being much worse. Though despite containing Smith-Schuster, James Conner wore the Bengals defense down. Conner had ten carries, eight receptions for 83 receiving yards and a touchdown.

The Bengals are 0-4, now what?

No team has advanced to the playoffs after starting 0-4 since the 1992 San Diego Chargers. The Bengals aren’t currently playing like a team that could break that streak. That doesn’t inherently mean the Bengals season is effectively over. Though that could effectively be the case by the end of October if current trends continue. Cincinnati will face another winless team at home; the 0-3-1 Arizona Cardinals this Sunday.

Both teams will go into Sunday in similar states beyond their records. Both have rookie coaches looking for their first win. Cardinals rookie QB Kyler Murray and Bengals veteran QB Andy Dalton are facing similar struggles. Both have thrown four interceptions so far this season. Murray and Dalton have also been sacked with alarming frequency.

Among the keys to Sunday’s game, Cincinnati’s defense will ultimately need to ultimately contain Murray. A potentially steep challenge considering how they’re doing so far this season. They will also need to contain Arizona’s rushing game. One area where the Cardinals are faring better than the Bengals. Both have lethargic rushing games but Arizona is outpacing Cincinnati 92.0-49.5. On offense, the Bengals will need to exploit Arizona’s poor passing defense. The Cardinals have allowed 37 more passing yards than the Bengals.

Sunday’s kickoff between the Cardinals and Bengals is set for 1 PM Eastern on FOX.