no Orland Brown at practice today. He aggravated a groin injury against the Seahawks

Akeem Davis-Gaither remains out with a knee injury that should have put him on IR a month ago

Charlies Jones on rehab field

Tee and Chido both practicing

No official injury report until Wednesday

Nothing really important. I just wanted to put this out there.

Yesterday my wife, 3 kids, and I decided to stop by King's Island to try to get a few rides in before the season ends (big mistake, as Halloween Haunt was still going on and it was crowded which it normally isn't this time of year on Sunday.) Anyhow, while walking past the Linus Launcher in kiddy land I happened to look over and standing there waiting for a kid on the ride was DJ Reader. I recognized him right away but it took a few seconds to realize he was actually standing there. Trying to be respectful I didn't want to bother him while he was enjoying his day but my wife had other plans (gotta love her). She walked right up to him and asked if he'd mind if we got a picture with him. He was extremely kind and was more than willing to have his picture taken. He really was a cool dude and sounded just like he does in his interviews. My wife isn't much of a football fan but at least now I can point him out to her and she'll have a connection. Anyhow, I just thought it was really cool and wanted to share it with my board brothers and sisters.

Or at least he could be coming.

IMO I think Chase Brown is or should get a lot more opportunities out of the bye week. It's PAINFULLY obvious that Mixon and his 4.3 YPA aren't really cutting it. Is it an OL/scheme problem or a Joe Mixon problem? Im really not here to debate that and Im not really sure I care to debate it anymore...

What I do know is that this running game needs some SPEED and a shake up. Someone that can make people miss, catch out of the backfield, and break off an explosive run or two and to take some of the load off Mixon.

It's kind of mind blowing that they don't have a package installed for Chase Brown to take advantage of his speed (it's elite accoring to his RAS score, BTW). The offense overall is lacking a guy like him. I really look forward to him getting more work and opportunity in the second half - USE HIM!

For all the negative as usual on this board, there is a lot to be positive about.

Bengals have been to AFC Championship back to back years for first time in franchise history. Both games were in Kansas City, Bengals won one of them. Most of that team is still here in 2023. With Burrow in very bad shape from a bad leg all preseason, Bengals lost their first 2 games of season. However they have went 3-1 since the bad start.

So for those on the boards suggesting Bengals turn everything upside down and change everything, I suggest not. This team has just had the 2 best back to back seasons in franchise history and after a bad start due to Burrow injury, they have went 3-1 before the bye week. The bye week gives Burrow and Higgins and others a chance to rest and get more healthy.

For all the negative on this board, which there is plenty of, remember that The Bengals going to AFC Championship last 2 seasons have won 3 of the last 4 games, and Joe Burrow is getting healthy from that summer leg injury.

GO BENGALS

Defenses are feasting this year so far. Generally they are doing so with deep coverages and great pass rush (or, arguably, increasingly poor offensive line play by most teams because that position is approached differently in college). So how has our team addressed this? We have moved to a shotgun formation and our passing game has been designed for shorter yardage plays. This of course protects the quarterback by being more physically distant from the line so the pass rush takes longer to get there. So what if we took this concept further?

My suggestion is a punting formation. In fact I might even replace our center with our long snapper. Burrow would line up where the punter is. That's right, I'm talking 15 yards back. And every down the ball would be snapped all the way back to Burrow. He would then have more time to throw and the defensive pass rush will wear out faster running all that way every down.

That's it. That's my admittedly gimmicky idea. It is the bye week so I thought it couldn't do any harm to put it out there. Please feel free to respond with thoughts on this or even just light mocking.

General feeling from Callahan and Pollack is that they're happy with the improvement, though things could always be better. Couple of interesting parts that caught my eye in bold.

In my opinion, the reduction in sacks is huge, but we have to get that number of hits that Burrow is absorbing down a bit. Like it or not, RPO passes are NOT rushing plays, and they simply need to hand the ball off more and build that continuity in moving the defense off the ball.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/how-has-the-cincinnati-bengals-offensive-line-played-through-6-games/ar-AA1iwlhM?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=acd65e2cbd4447208d9bec9aa5dfb077&ei=38

Quote:As the Cincinnati Bengals coaching staff takes stock of the offensive struggles during the bye week, it’s a good time to look at how much responsibility should be placed on the offensive line.

ESPN has the Bengals ranked 30th in its pass block win rate metric at 45% and 21st in run block win rate at 70% (it’s worth noting there are only four percentage points separating 21st from third in the RBWR).

But from the staff’s perspective, the performance has been better than what those numbers indicate and certainly better than where the line was in previous seasons.

How Has the Cincinnati Bengals Offensive Line Played So Far?
“I’ve been pleased with their performance,” offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said.

“I think in pass pro, we’re markedly improved. We’ve played some good fronts, but they’re doing the job we want them to do. I’d like to give up maybe one less sack per game. There’s always one that gets home. Some of it’s schematic, some of it is somebody losing somewhere.”

The Bengals have allowed 14 sacks, which is tied for the 12th fewest in the league. They’ve allowed 44 pressures, which ranks 11th.

And when you take the volume aspect out of it and consider the team’s 247 dropbacks are the fourth most this year, the numbers look even better.
Burrow has been sacked once every 17.6 dropbacks, which is tied for eighth best.

“You can play great as an offensive lineman for 70 plays, but you give up one bad play that turned into a sack, and that’s all you’re thinking about,” offensive line coach Frank Pollack said. “Whereas on defense, you can get your ass kicked for 69 plays, and you get one sack, and all anyone is talking about is what a great game you had, which is bulls—t.

“You’re always looking to be perfect and pitch shutouts and be right on point with everything you’re doing as far as blocking,” Pollack continued. “I think we’ve done a lot of good things, but there’s some things we need to do better and clean up. All of that said, we’re way ahead of where we were last year at this point.”

The Bengals spent big in free agency two years in a row to help bolster the offensive line after that group cost them a victory in Super Bowl LVI. It was Alex Cappa, Ted Karras, and La’el Collins in 2022, and Orlando Brown Jr. this year.

Per Pro Football Focus, Brown ranks 27th among 61 qualifying tackles in run blocking. Jonah Williams, who moved from left tackle to right due to Brown’s arrival, is 31st.

Among guards, Alex Cappa is 15th of 53 qualifiers, but Cordell Volson is 51st. And of 30 centers, Ted Karras is 17th.

“We’ve gotten caught a couple times on blitzes, that’s a fact,” Pollack said. “So kudos to those guys on defense. That’s going to happen. But overall, over the course of a season, you get more of a sample size. You’re hoping to come out way ahead on those things. And we expect to do that.”

Through six games last year, Burrow was pressured on 20.1% of his dropbacks while taking 43 hits and 22 sacks. Through the first six this year, he’s been pressured a career-low 17.4% of the time with a career-low 14 sacks and 39 hits.

“We’re good enough to be 3-3,” Pollack said. “But there’s room to get better. Whatever the situation is, we’ve got to step up to the challenge. And no matter how tight the margin for error, that’s the nature of offensive line play. As a coach, as a unit, as an offense, you know the issues that we’re trying to work through and limit.”

The Bengals are ranked 32nd in rush offense, but that has less to do with how the offensive line is blocking and more with how rarely the team runs the ball because it’s a volume stat.

And head coach Zac Taylor and offensive coordinator Brian Callahan count passing yards on RPO plays as rushing yards, given that those plays are extensions of the run game.

Still, in terms of yards per carry, the Bengals rank 26th, and there have been some problematic issues in each of the last two games, with the four failed runs on the goal line at Arizona and the 3rd-and-1 stop at midfield on the first play of the fourth quarter Sunday, to name a couple.

“In the run game, we’ve been good, but we can be better,” Callahan said. “We can get more out of the run game than we’ve gotten. But I’ve been pleased with their performance. I feel so much different about going into games than we did two years ago. It just feels different. Everything about it feels much more solid and nailed down.”

The Bengals will be tested immediately coming out of the break. The 49ers rank ninth in PRWR, the Bills are third, and the Texans second. In terms of run stop win rate, the 49ers are ninth and the Bills are seventh.

“I’m excited for how things will be done,” Pollack said. “We’ve done a lot of good things, but it ain’t all roses and sunshine either. You can be undefeated and still have a s—load of things you need to work on. So we’re excited about our successes, but we know the areas we’ve got to improve on, and we will.”

Bengals 23
49ers 20

So? Who wins here?

I'll say the Bengals win in a blowout with two weeks of rest and therefore it is Bengals 49 Bye 0.

Chase highest on offense at elite 86.7.
Jonah highest OL at 67.6.
Karras, Cappa, and OBJ all 60+
Mixon and Boyd also doing solid as far as starters go.
Worst starters - Higgins (57.3), Volson (48.2), Smith (39.2)

For defense:
Hendrickson highest with an lite 89.1.
Reader and Battle in the upper 70's. Battle has best coverage grade among all defenders.
Hubbard, Dax Hill, Turner, and Pratt all in the 60's, which is solid.
Worst starters - BJ Hill (54.4 - mainly run defense), Wilson (52.5), Hilton (51.1), Scott (40.5)

If there were any guys that the Bengals should try someone new at, it's Volson, Smith, and Scott.
Scott might already be getting replaced with Battle.