Bengals’ offense must be in a creative mode with Burrow hobbled
The threat of the deep ball is the cornerstone of the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense, and quarterback Joe Burrow has been terrible on those throws this season.
“We’ve played three really good defenses that know that know that that’s what we’re good at and are good at taking that away,” Burrow said. “When you’re able to extend plays, those kinds of explosive plays are created in that way. So, I think going forward, the healthier I get, the more we’ll be able to do that.”
Still battling a calf injury, Burrow is 1 for 9 on throws of 20-plus yards. Four of those incompletions have been offtarget, three were caused by Burrow’s limited ability to move around in the pocket, and one was the result of tight end Irv Smith Jr. being unable to get both feet in bounds.
“We have to continue to be patient, creative, and take advantage of the shots when we get them,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said.
The Bengals’ coaching staff had some interesting ideas to try to get receivers open, but the ideas just weren’t working.
“There’s a schematic part that we have to do coaching-wise to put guys in position,” Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said. “And then there’s an execution part that they have to do on the field. And so when those two things connect, it usually looks pretty good.”
With Burrow hobbled, the execution hasn’t been there. While in 2021 and 2022, he was one of the most accurate deep passers in NFL history, this year, he hasn’t had the same mechanics or ability to create explosive plays running outside of the pocket.
The formula for developing big plays may have to look different until Burrow gets back to 100%. For now, the Bengals’ deep passing game will be shaped by the coaching staff.
“To put blame on Joe not being fully healthy, I think that’s a cop-out to some degree for us,” Callahan said. “You really can’t use those things as a crutch. We have to play better than we have. We’ve done some good things, but we need to do more.”