Dominant on both sides of the ball as the boys knock off their 2nd Play Off team in a roll. So we get to award a Game Ball:

JAKE BROWNING: 275 yards, 2 TDSs, 1 INT, Passer Rating 122.7

JOE MIXON: 79 Rushing Yards, 46 Receiving Yards, 1 TD

CHASE BROWN: 25 Rushing Yards, 80 Receiving Yards, 1 TD

TREY HENDRICKSON: 2 Sacks, 1 "forced INT", made #75 his girlfriend

BJ HILL: Shutdown rushing game, 1 INT (Thank you Billy Price)

GERMAINE PRATT: 10 tackles, .5 Sack

Call me crazy, but could Joe's injury turn out to be a blessing in disguise in the long run? What I mean is that, without Burrow, the coaches were forced to redesign the offense around what best fits Browning's strengths. And that redesign could serve as a blueprint for the offense moving forward into 2024 and the impetus for a Superbowl run when Joe returns next season. I doubt we would have won the Jacksonville game with Joe at QB because we would have been running the same old stagnant sets that just weren't working. Also, this new offensive design has allowed a guy like Chase Brown to display his explosive offensive talents, which , in turn, has allowed Mixon to be more effective. The newfound running game has been huge in keeping defenses honest and allowing for us to hit some big plays downfield. None of this would have happened without the Burrow injury. Not only that, but the Bengals' defense seems to be re-energized with the resurgence of the offense.

It seems to me that he Burrow injury has had a domino effect which has made the team better prepared for a playoff run this season and poised to be a dominant force in the AFC , again, next season when Joe returns. Am I crazy for thinking this way?

I was looking for the usual Pally/others posting on inactives. But not seeing it, this is what I found:

Here is a look at who will be down for Cincinnati this week.

HB Chris Evans
OT D’Ante Smith
C Trey Hill
DT Jay Tufele
LB Devin Harper

And here are the Colts inactives:

CB JuJu Brents
RB Jonathan Taylor
DE Isaiah Land
C Jack Anderson
DT Eric Johnson II
OT Braden Smith
LB E.J. Speed


https://www.cincyjungle.com/2023/12/10/23992462/bengals-vs-colts-inactives-nfl-week-14

The NFL has determined that the Bengals were in full compliance with league’s injury report policy when Joe Burrow suffered his season-ending wrist injury during a Thursday night game at Baltimore, as @jjones9 reported. After its investigation, the league said were no violations.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 9, 2023

Quote:There’s nothing to see here.

That’s the conclusion from the NFL regarding the question of whether the Bengals had concealed a wrist injury to quarterback Joe Burrow before he suffered a season-ending wrist injury during the Week 11 Thursday night game at Baltimore.

The NFL has announced that the Bengals did not violate the injury report.

“The NFL reviewed all medical records, studied practice video from the week preceding the [Bengals’] Week 10 game against Houston and the Week 11 game against Baltimore, interviewed relevant medical personnel and Joe Burrow himself before arriving at its conclusion,” NFL employee Tom Pelissero posted on X. “No violations.”

Despite this conclusion, there has been no clear explanation regarding Burrow wearing a sleeve that extended past his thumb while traveling to Maryland for the game against the Ravens. Making the situation specifically suspicious was the fact that the Bengals posted video of Burrow wearing the wrap, before deleting it.

The NFL’s investigation hardly counts as independent or neutral. If the league had found that the Bengals had hidden the injury, the league would have essentially engraved an invitation for a class-action lawsuit by those who made legal wagers based on the assumption Burrow was healthy — against the Bengals for hiding the injury, and against the NFL for negligent failure to develop and to enforce an effective injury report.

Thus, while many will crow that this counts as complete and total exoneration of the Bengals, unanswered questions remain. Those questions will only be answered if someone does indeed file a lawsuit and secures the ability to conduct the kind of investigation that would be precisely designed to find the needle in the haystack.

I thought this was very well written, and a great read about Jake Browning and the work he's put in.

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2023/12/07/how-jake-brownings-team-first-approach-went-full-circle-on-bengals/71840156007/

If Browning keeps playing like Monday night Titans maybe could potentially offer us Henry and a draft pick for Browning

According to what I read yesterday from Lou, if your name is Joe Burrow, you start attending all the defensive meetings. I imagine this will help Joe be even more brilliant in being able to dissect what defenses are doing and get into their mindsets.

Good questions this week
https://youtu.be/Fy5I1KGCuKw?si=D-mWtSRyYcDSWhZe

I am starting to think that Volson is the guy.

He's REALLY flashed in a number of games this year, but has also had some turds. I remember Willie Anderson having a quote about offensive lineman..."development isn't linear".

I am also starting to believe that this offensive line isn't as big of a problem that we are all lead to believe. Yes, its been a small sample since Burrow was hurt, but they've played some of their best games when the Bengals are running the ball effectively, moving the pocket, doing more play action, going under center, etc. It's no coincidence that they played their best games against the 49ers and Jags (when they were doing all the things mentioned).

It's one of the things I'm going to be paying attention to the most going down the stretch. How they play under this "Browning" offense. I really do think the majority of their struggles is a result of Burrow wanting to be in spread 75% of the time and that "style" of play. Teams don't have to worry about any other element of our offense beating them.

I am putting my money on the Black and Orange.

By the way, we are still undefeated with the Black and White.