Week 15:”"Big win, big win and I was excited about it. Hard-fought win” - Burrow

Sometimes you just need to roll up your sleeves and win an ugly game.  In what was the least flashy game this season for the Bengals they did what they needed to do and won.  The Offense came out flat and struggled to find any rhythm.  Mixon only rushed for 58 yards, and Chase had 1 catch.  Luckily for the offense, the Bengals defense showed up and ended up winning the game.  Trey Hendrickson continued his sack streak to 10 games, and now Larry Ogunjobi started his own with 3 straight games. The defense played a bend but don’t break mentality and ended up pulling out the victory.

The Bengals offense struggled immensely against the Broncos defense.  Between the 4 for 13 on 3rd down to only having 76 yards in the first half.  The Bengals offense looked overmatched especially in the first half.  The play calling was once again extremely conservative.  On 21 first down attempts the Bengals only threw the ball 6 times.  Over 70 percent of the time they ran the ball on first down.  When teams can start noticing a theme they can obviously start scheming for it.  If you look at the passing vs rushing splits on first down some numbers stick out.  The Bengals averaged 17.2 yards when passing on first down, while only averaging 5.6 when running the ball.  Now if we take out the two outliers (Boyd’s 56 yard TD, and Perine’s 22 yard rush) things are still skewed.  With the outliers removed the Bengals passing attack averaged 7.5 yards while the rushing game only produced 4.4. The Bengals almost lost this game because of third down.  The average distance to go on 3rd down was 7.9 yards.  Meaning the team either suffered a penalty or could only manage 2 yards in two plays.  So the 3 yard difference when Burrow has the opportunity to pass on first down could make those downs more manageable.  The quote that perfectly describes Taylor’s play calling was from Mike Renner from PPF. “Joe Burrow threw one pass on 1st down in the entire 2nd half yesterday compared to 10 designed runs.  That one pass went 56 yards for the Bengals only TD.”  Now Taylor could have schemed things this way to protect the offensive line that was down two Right Tackles and the starting Right Guard.  Or this narrative of Taylor’s conservative play calling limiting the Bengals offense is the truth. Regardless of what it is, Zac Taylor will have to loosen the reins and allow Burrow to attack more often.  Luckily for the offense, the Bengals defense held strong and ended up winning the game for the Bengals. 

After suffering two COVID scratches and still missing their starting linebacker, things could have gone a lot worse for the Bengals defense.  But the unit showed up and was the star of the show.  Other than the one drive when Teddy Bridgewater was injured, the Bengals held the Broncos to only 3 points.  While also holding the potent Broncos running attack to only 133 yards.  The credit for these accomplishments needs to be credited to the defensive line.  Especially DJ Reader and Larry Ogunjobi, they constantly disrupted the Broncos game plan.  If the Bengals have the opportunity to make a postseason run, this unit will be the main reason.  The only concern with the Bengals defense right now is the health of the linebacking core.  Akeem Davis-Gaither is looking to be done for the year, while Logan Wilson and Joe Bachie might suffer the same fate.  Bachie was a hidden gem off the Bengals practice squad but a knee injury on Sunday might be the end of his season.  Zac Taylor and Lou Anarumo now have a challenge ahead of them to figure out this unit and how to scheme for it.  With two elite Tight ends in the final three games, this group has a challenge ahead of them to start planning for.

With 3 games remaining the AFC North is a complete dog fight.  As it sits currently: Bengals are 8-6, Ravens 8-6, Browns 7-6 (plays today), and Steelers 7-6-1.  Let's look at each team's remaining games to see what the future might hold.  The Bengals play the Ravens, Chiefs, and Browns.  The Ravens play the Bengals, Rams, and Steelers.  The Browns play Raiders, Packers, Steelers, and Bengals.  While the Steelers play the Chiefs, Browns, and Ravens.  Let's start with the Steelers, they most likely split or lose both AFC North games and lose to the Chief's.  That means the Steelers would finish 8-8-1 or 7-9-1.  Now let's look at the Browns, the Raiders game should be a loss with the COVID issues facing the team.  The remaining three games would feature two divisional games and a game against the Packers.  The Browns will either split or win both AFC North games and lose to the Packers.  Leading them to finish 8-9 or 9-8.  Meaning both Steelers and Browns would be eliminated from the playoffs.  Now this is where things get interesting.  After 15 Weeks the Bengals and Ravens sit tied atop of the division.  But a Week 16 game could decide both teams' fate.  A Bengals win puts the Bengals at 9-6 with a 4-1 record in the division and the Ravens would fall to 8-7 and 1-4 in the division.  If this situation plays out the Bengals would win the division by splitting their remaining games, with a possibility to still win the division losing both remaining games.  But if the Bengals lose against the Ravens they would fall to 8-7 and 3-2 in the division and the Ravens would go to 9-6 and 2-3 in the division.  If this situation happens the Bengals would have to win out and hope the Ravens lose one of their two remaining games.  Regardless of what happens this race for top of the AFC North is going to be a fun watch.