When the Bengals went on a surprise run to Super Bowl 56 last February, there was an underlying sentiment they might not be able to capture lightning in a bottle again. With one of the NFL’s worst offensive lines, an undermanned defense playing literally and figuratively out of its mind, and Joe Burrow launching darts despite seemingly spending half his time on the turf, none of the Bengals’ success looked sustainable.
On paper, Cincinnati was the epitome of a pro football Cinderella whose orange and black-striped slipper didn’t fit anymore. With roughly a month to go before the 2023 NFL postseason — following a statement 20-16 victory over the formidable Titans on Sunday — there’s little doubt as to who the defending AFC champions are: A legitimate Super Bowl contender that actually took the next positive steps following a disappointing result in the Big Game.
Sunday’s matchup against Tennessee was a microcosm of how the holes the Bengals plugged up in the offseason have started to buoy them in their ongoing AFC title defense, but these signs didn’t start to show up today.
A year ago, amidst one of the best rookie receiver (or veteran) seasons ever from Ja’Marr Chase, the Bengals were more of a one-trick pony. They had/still have top complementary options like Tee Higgins and Joe Mixon, but the offense amounted to “get the ball into Chase’s hands before Burrow hits the ground, and pray.” As good as Chase is, it wasn’t a bad idea!
That’s because, for the most part, the plan worked. The Second-Team All-Pro and Offensive Rookie of the Year in Chase caught 25 passes (on 35 targets!) for 368 yards (a 14.7 yards-per-reception average) in last year’s postseason. Each of the AFC hopefuls in the Raiders, Titans and even Chiefs had no answer for the game-breaking playmaker in his debut playoff.
Ja'Marr Chase is the first Bengals wide receiver to ever win AFC Player of the Week twice in one season. He joins Hall of Famer Randy Moss (1998) as the only rookie wide receivers to earn the honor twice.
— Tyler Dragon (@TheTylerDragon) January 5, 2022
As Chase nurses a midseason hip injury from this season, the Bengals haven’t had the luxury of funneling the ball to their superstar playmaker as much as they’d want. When it was revealed the wideout would miss indefinite time roughly a month ago, a then-4-3 Cincinnati team looked like it’d be without a paddle. How could it feasibly run any consistently good offense without their star bell cow? Those concerns seem so silly now.
Since Chase’s last appearance in Week 7, Burrow might be enjoying the most efficient and effective stretch of his young career. Against the Browns, Panthers, Steelers, and now Titans (who have one of the NFL’s top defenses by several metrics) — Burrow threw eight touchdowns to just three interceptions. (The Bengals are now an appropriate 7-4.) His average yards per pass attempt (ypa) has been a robust 7.6, only a slight drop off from his overall stellar 7.8 ypa standard for the 2022 campaign. He’s third in the NFL in passing yards (2,890) and tied for second in the league in passing touchdowns (23) behind, ironically, Patrick Mahomes. Burrow’s been so good for pro football’s No. 8 offense in Football Outsiders’ DVOA (before Sunday) — that I think he deserves recognition for MVP alongside Mahomes and the Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa.
Burrow’s individual performance against the Titans — where his offensive supporting cast consisted of Higgins and various glorified role players en route to a game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter — was the perfect emblem showcasing how far the star quarterback has come in elevating his teammates. And it’s no real secret as to why he played so well.
He worked from an impeccably clean pocket against one of the NFL’s better pure four-man pass rushes:
As nice of a pocket as Burrow has had all season, per @NextGenStats pic.twitter.com/mj9FeDKome
— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) November 27, 2022
On the season, like last year, Burrow has still been one of the NFL’s most-sacked and most-pressured quarterbacks (fourth overall in sacks taken with 33). But not all of those numbers are a consequence of Cincinnati’s revamped line (which still had its struggles early on, to be fair). By his very nature, Burrow has made it a point to hold onto the ball a little longer throughout his career so he can give his teammates a chance to make a play. That mindset has usually killed his offense’s possessions in the past, as continually digging your way out of third-and-long situations is a lot easier said than done. Thanks to a front-line unit that has progressed to more of a solid “average” than “we’re going to get our former No. 1 overall pick destroyed,” Burrow has been free to dust himself off and seek the kill shot more often as the Bengals’ explosive offense gains steam.
The results have been predictable. A star quarterback is flummoxing defenses who know that even when they bring him to the ground once, twice, or thrice, his newfound comfort in the pocket will likely come back to bite them anyway.
In the coming weeks, the task ahead for the Bengals is simple: Beat the Chiefs. They did last season, sweeping them between a regular season affair (in Cincinnati) and a postseason matchup (in Kansas City). Call it a hunch, but it’ll be a little tougher to upend the high-end, high-motored Chiefs this year — especially as they won’t overlook their “friends” in southeastern Ohio after taking two shots on the chin. We’ll get another look at where this budding AFC rivalry stands in Round 3 next Sunday in Cincy.
But if Burrow is proving he can live and thrive without Chase behind an improved offensive line, then the Bengals’ equation for success hasn’t really changed. Once Chase returns, this remains a team more than capable of beating the NFL’s Big Red Machine. It might even be a squad that can finish the ultimate job in February this time around.
