That 63-yard TD ?‍?

Vote for @JoeyB to be the @FedEx Air Player of the Week here: https://t.co/tHwaG0aK5c pic.twitter.com/q0u4mo0PQr

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) October 9, 2023

Five weeks in and we have a pretty good pulse on this team. Some good areas, some bad, and some that need addressing...like now. The sense of urgency to make this team better should be pretty high considering this off-season's roster turnover, the position the team is currently in (2-3), and how this was supposed to be our Super Bowl year.

Where are the dificiencies and how can the Bengals address them? I have these ranked in order from most important to least important (IMO).

1. RB2
This should have been addressed in the off-season and is a major blunder by the front office. At this point, the team basically doesn't have a RB2 on the roster. Mixon has accounted for 93% (84 of 90) of the running back attempts this season. That is just unsustainable. Mixon is going to be beat by game 10. The Bengals don't trust anyone else on their roster to give attemps to, so they will need to dip into the trade or FA market. Preferably a one year rental, a vet, (Chase Brown can spell the load next year) and someone with some speed.

Option: Dontrell Hilliard - 28 years old and rated with a 67 PFF grade in 2022 with the Titans. More speed than Mixon (elite 40 yard dash RAS) and 6.6 yards per attempt last year in VERY limited carries. Currently a FA who can most likely be had for very cheap. He is also a good receiving back posting 21 receptions on 28 targets and 177 yards and 4 TDs.

2. Interior pass rush:
Zach Carter just isn't working out. The pass rush in 2022 wasn't good enough (specifically the interior). It hasn't been the same since Larry O left and they could definitely use a rotational piece to spare Reader/Hill.

Option: Derrick Brown - He'd have to be obtained via trade from the Panthers. He's signed through this year with a 5th year rookie option for next year (11 million). He's having a REALLY good year, grading out at an 80 via PFF and an 84 in 2022. He'd be an awesome option to pair inside with Reader/Hill this year then you also have a Reader replacement stop gap for next year (if letting Reader walk is the route they want to go). I'd give up a 4th round pick for him. Maaaaybe a 3rd.

4. Safety:
Nick Scott isn't it. I hate to give up on him, but he's been pretty bad. Both tackling and in coverage.

Option: Jordan Battle - This is an easy one. Jordan Battle (yes, the rookie) should be getting more playing time. He already got some this past week against Arizona and I wouldn't be shocked if it continued. He played for a couple series while Scott was benched. He did flash at times against the Cards, but he will most likely have some let downs as well. Either way, at this point he can't be much worse than Scott.

I was one of the bigger bangers of the sit Joe Burrow down crowd, and I was wrong. I was worried about his long term health playing like he was prior to yesterday. He was just a giant immobile target!! And playing like crap.

I never dreamed he would turn it around so fast, and I was wrong. I don't pretend to be a soft tissue injury expert or a Doctor, but I'm shocked.

But I'm also very happy I was wrong.

Wasn't able to watch the game (road trip) but saw via text replay that Pratt was injured... is it anything serious?

Just can't figure out why the run defense is so poor this year. Had James Conner not gotten hurt the outcome may very well have been different yesterday.

Did we lose someone on the interior of the DL that I'm forgetting about? Reader getting old, lack of depth, execution, ???

To my untrained eye it appears as though our tacking is pretty bad this year. Maybe that's due to being out of position. Not sure but somehow it needs to get much better moving forward.

As we watched what should have been a completely dominating win that should have been put away in the first half not get sealed until much later in the game, largely in part of the OL's inability to pick up stunts and blitzes or gain consistent movement in the running game. We can single out individual players for their particular issues, but the one constant that has been there and supposed to be teaching communication and have that group working together as a unit is OL coach Frank Pollack.

Those 3 first half sacks, all on 3rd downs were drive killers, drives that likely could have ended in scores putting the game out of reach before the half. Down inside the 5, not being able to move a defensive front that was beaten up pretty good by the 49ers just the week before off of the ball is simply unacceptable.

As fans it's frustrating to watch, all we can do is come on here and grumble about it. So with that in mind, if the Bengals elect to make a change at the OL coaching position, who would you like to see them target for the job?

Trenton Irwin. Always been a fear if 1 of the 3 go offense would struggle, Trenton Irwin reminds me a little of Welker or Amendola

Prior to Cards game his playcalling/game management have been poor. He finally showed he was capable of calling a good NFL game again. Maybe if we get more of this Zac yesterday as opposed to the first 4. We win the North and maybe even win the SB this year.

Not just the impressive stat line. 78% completion on 46 dropbacks, 3 TDs 315 yards, only INT was a play that arguably should have been a defensive penalty. But he looked more confident and aggressive, actually moved in the pocket and scrambled for yards and downs. And his accuracy was much improved probably because he was actually stepping into throws.

He was fun to watch today.

Good to see the boys get their moJo back. So who we got:

Joe Burrow: 317 yards, 3 TDs, 108.1 Passer Rating

JaMarr Chase: 15 catches, 192 yards, 3 TDs

Trent Irwin: 8 catches, 60 yards, 68 PR yards

Trey Hendrickson: 4 tackles. 2.5 sacks, 1 PD, 1 FF

Jermaine Pratt: 10 tackles, 1 INT

Cameron Taylor-Britt: 1 Pick 6, taking over as CB1