How the Bengals got their groove back

Oct. 5, 2023: The Cincinnati Bengals sat at 1-3 after another disheartening loss, and QB Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense looked like a shell of themselves due to an injury to Burrow’s calf suffered in the preseason. Questions were beginning to arise about how effective the Bengals offseason additions were, and here at SB Nation, we went to Football Court and discussed whether the Bengals should tank the season. In court, I said the Bengals shouldn’t tank, but a lot of their problems were due to Burrow not being healthy enough to nullify mistakes at the QB position, an important proposition.

Oct. 30, 2023: The Cincinnati Bengals are 4-3 and coming off a win over the San Francisco 49ers in which Burrow and the Bengals offense scored 31 points and moved up and down the field.

Yeah, maybe the rumors of the Bengals’ death were greatly exaggerated.

Coming off a bye week, and enough time to get Burrow healthy, the Bengals’ offense looked once again like one of the best in the NFL, and Burrow being at or close to 100 percent completely unlocked the entire offense. It was on display against San Francisco, and now that Burrow is healthy, the Bengals can really get to cooking on the offensive side of the ball.

With Burrow injured, his pocket movement was hampered and it limited what the Bengals could do on offense. They were exclusively a shotgun team, because Burrow couldn’t move from under center for play action. As good as the Bengals have been, they’ve limited themselves because they haven’t tried anything under center. Through the first six games of the season (per Sam Hoppen), Burrow was under center for 15 snaps. Against San Francisco, Burrow was under center for 14 snaps alone. Against an aggressive defensive front like the 49ers, the play action from under center kept the defense off balance, and now that Burrow can move more, he can create more of a pocket with that deep play action.

In addition, the under center work meant a return to an effective run game that they can have in that area. Out of shotgun, there’s not a lot of variety you can get in the run game. You become basic and predictable, and that doesn’t help the offense at all. Through the first six games, the Bengals ran the ball from under center 13 times.

Against the 49ers, the Bengals ran the ball from under center (on non-sneak and kneel plays) nine times, and RB Joe Mixon had one of his best games of the season. The Bengals effectively used motion in the run game to change the angles of the 49ers, while taking advantage of the aggression of the 49ers defense. On this play, EDGE Nick Bosa gets far too deep up the field and the Bengals TE chips him out of the play. LT Orlando Brown Jr. climbs to the second level and Mixon makes a great cutback to get a big play out of this.

Now, let’s get back to Burrow. With his calf close to 100%, now you can get more of the Joe Burrow: nullifier of problems. With his leg back to functional capacity, he can now make the insane Joe Burrow plays that we’re used to. Burrow was extremely effective as a runner today, not only getting out of surefire sacks but moving the chains.

Against light boxes, the Bengals would check into QB draws last year. Now, with Burrow healthy, he and the Bengals can remain on schedule because of Burrow’s ability to make things right with his scrambling.

Even on non-designed QB runs, Burrow was making things work as a scrambler, a sign that he’s back. Watch this run on third down. The Niners go to zone and everything is covered, but Burrow has enough confidence in his legs to escape and get the first down. This is what’s been missing from the Cincinnati offense.

Burrow and the Bengals might actually be back this time, and just in time for the stretch run of the season. If Burrow can keep his calf healthy, then the sky is once again the limit for Cincinnati.