CINCINNATI – Joe knows best. This is a mantra that the Bengals have fully embraced.
Cincinnati’s success activated Joe Burrow’s ability to process and act, complete passes in narrow windowswork around the shortcomings of the team and Turn abandoned games into first downs.
Meanwhile, the Bengals’ running game has become something of a side dish to the main course.
The Bengals ranked 29th out of 32 NFL teams in rushing during the regular season, averaging 92.9 yards per game — fewer than all but two playoff teams and the fewest of any team that advanced to the divisional round. Cincinnati finished with 100 or more rushing yards in just three games. The last time was a win against the Browns in Week 14.
In their last two games against Baltimore — victories in the regular-season finals and wildcard playoff round — Cincinnati came on the ground for just 106 yards combined. The Bengals have averaged just 58 yards in their last four games.
Offensive coordinator Brian Callahan conceded that “we’re not a volume-carry team,” but he said the de-emphasis on the running game isn’t a conscious trend, it’s the way the games have been working over the past few months or so to have.
“At first we played really good defence. We’ve played … against some teams that are pretty hella hell of a shot at stopping the run and they’re good at it,” Callahan said. “The other part is that we’ve also tended to throw the ball a little bit more over the past few weeks, partly because of that.”
The Bengals revamped an underperforming offensive line ahead of the season. That has helped slow down the pass rushers that made Burrow the NFL’s most-sacked quarterback in 2021 and left him battered after the Super Bowl loss to the Rams.
His 68.3% completion rate in the 2022 regular season was the second-highest in the NFL, behind only Seattle’s Geno Smith. His 297.7 yards per game was second to Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes. Burrow threw a career-high 35 touchdown passes, tying it with Buffalo’s Josh Allen in second place.
A string of injuries in recent weeks will force the Bengals to start three backups on offense when they play Sunday’s divisional round in Buffalo. If you get around that, Burrow will apply even more pressure.
Luckily for the Bengals, not much bothers the 26-year-old star.
“I think you have to have that attitude as a quarterback in this league if you really want to be successful — you can’t go out scared right now,” he said. “You have to be a little bit arrogant to go out in that moment and do the pieces that you have to do, and that’s really something I’ve thought about a lot and something I’m trying to do.”
Callahan said the Bengals would still give up the ball against the Bills, the league’s fourth-best team against the run this season.
“We have to let the ball run better,” he said. “It will always help that group (offensive line), especially with new players, if we run the ball with some efficiency and feel good about it. I will say that at this time of year when it matters most we will probably try to put the ball in Burrows hands as much as possible because that is what will win us games.
After rushing for a career-high 1,205 yards in 2021, featured back Joe Mixon hasn’t found much room this year. He logged just one 100-yard play, rushed for 153 yards and had four touchdowns in a Week 9 win over Carolina. He suffered a concussion in the first half of a Week 12 win over Pittsburgh and missed the next two games.
With reduced carries, Mixon has remained a consistent cog in the passing game and has 60 catches for 441 yards — both career highs for the six-year-old pro.
“Everyone in that dressing room is going to matter,” Mixon said this week. “We have physical, hungry teammates willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, transcribed or redistributed without permission.
