I am sure some of you are tired of this, and Ja'Marr;s recent "Pat Who?" only threw more gas on the fire. However, I think there is one angle that is not discussed in the comparison.

Before I begin, I know that Mahomes has won two Super Bowls and Burrow has none to date. I get that. But how about comparing how they did in a similar situation?

In 2022, the Cheifs lost some key pieces on their offensive line to injury before the Super Bowl. Their line was pretty good before then. Here is Mahomes stat line from that game:

26/49 for 270 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs.

He was facing an elite defense in Tampa Bay with a beat up offensive line.

Here is how Burrow fared in his Super Bowl loss to the Rams:

22/33 for 263, 1 TD, 0 INTS

In fairness, Burrow was sacked an astonishing 7 times for 43 yards. Mahomes was sacked 3 times for 27 yards.

There was a stat (couldn't find it exactly) about the difference between Mahomes and Burrow in last year's AFC title game in terms of time to throw before pressure. Mahomes had something like 1.5 more seconds per drop back.

Why stir up this tired debate? Because I think the Bengals have MORE weapons now, and have MORE depth now (including better starters) on the offensive line. I can't wait to see how Burrow fares with a normal offseason, these new weapons, and a better, deeper line.

Mahomes gets (rightfully) praised for his two Super Bowl victories, but he doesn't seem to take any criticism for how he fared when he didn't have a great (or at least one of the best) offensive lines.

Zeke. A RB room of Mixon, Zeke, Brown and Evans would be able to do anything you want. You’d have a wrecking ball, a pass pro guy, a home run hitter and a reserve that is explosive in Chris Evans. We could realistically take 2 injuries to that room and still be ok.


https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/news/dallas-cowboys-ex-ezekiel-elliott-signing-cincinnati-bengals-looming-large-espn-rumor-joe-mixon-cut.


I do not see why we’d cut Mixon just to sign Zeke. Wouldn’t the idea of spending that much on Zeke be to pair him with Joe. I cannot defend cutting Mixon to save the 7 million or whatever and signing a worse RB to start.

ESPN has a report on first impressions from all 31 first-round picks and it sounds like Murphy is a player to be excited about for us!

Quote:The combination of size and speed that Murphy displayed at his Clemson pro day has been evident during offseason workouts. He has looked as explosive as advertised in the team's position drills. Murphy's reps have predominantly been with the backups, but the Bengals had a handful of 7-on-7 reps during mandatory minicamp. Cincinnati wants Murphy to be on the field for key pass-rushing situations as the Bengals try to increase their pressure rate.

Quote:Murphy already has an approval stamp from receiver Tee Higgins, a fellow former Clemson player.

"Lot of my friends that played with him say he's a good guy," Higgins said. "Hopefully he can come in and make an impact early."

....that the best group of receivers in the league -- Chase, Higgins and Boyd -- aren't a bunch of divas.  Latest news out of Buffalo is that Stefon Diggs wants to be offensive coordinator as well as the only WR to see the ball.

Source: The Boston Globe - Ben Volin

Buffalo Bills WR Stefon Diggs is reportedly unhappy with his role in the offense and his lack of a voice in play-calling, according to a source.

Our receivers block for the run game, run whatever route is called, catch it when it comes to them, shut their mouths, and put team above self.  

It is so easy to like this team.  From the front office on down, the organization has a winning culture throughout.  And it's special.  For you guys who have been around a while, you know that this hasn't always been the case.  Enjoy it and appreciate it.

Katie does a pretty darn good job in this stat

Teams with the most dead cap in 2023…#Buccaneers - $74.3M#Rams - $72.2M#Packers - $57.3M#Eagles - $54.7M#Panthers - $51.5M

Teams with the least…#Chiefs - $7.8M#Jaguars - $5.5M#Bills - $5.2M#Chargers - $2.2M#Bengals - $619K

— NFL Stats (@NFL_Stats) June 19, 2023

Bengals Mobile: They Gotta Play Us: The Story of the 2022 Cincinnati Bengals

https://youtu.be/j1_SHeRRsVk

Popular public opinion has the Chiefs
And Bengals as the top 2 AFC teams.
But could another AFC team pass up the Chiefs
And might be the Bengals could be facing them
In the Title Game. ,
What team could you possibly see coming
Out of nowhere to pass Mahomes and Co?

Happy Father's Day guys!!!

I hope your kids skipped the tie (unless its a Bengals tie) and loaded you up with Bengals gear for the next season

Enjoy your day

DJ is from my hometown of Greensboro, NC and he holds an annual football camp at the highschool he graduated from. I took my boy out today and had a great morning. DJ and his crew were the epitome of class and graciousness.

As an aside, he didn't look like he had any sort of toe/foot injury. He was running around with the kids and doing drills with them. Definitely didn't look limited.

I put his here because the Bengals are looking at a lot of large contracts sooner than later. It seems they answer my be no to having to place the full amount of guaranteed money in escrow.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/04/02/nfls-funding-rule-isnt-mandatory-did-the-browns-make-escrow-payment-for-deshaun-watson-deal/

We have lots of discussion on the cap also the impact teams have on guaranteed contracts. I was under the impression teams were handicapped if they fully guaranteed contracts or even in cases of huge contracts without full guarantees hampered if they place a huge mount of money in escrow to cover the guarantee.

"The section on “Funding of Deferred and Guaranteed Contracts” appears at page 178 of the CBA. It begins like this: “The NFL may require that by a prescribed date certain, each Club must deposit into a segregated account"


I am not sure how the NFL can arbitrarily make some teams make guaranteed money (NFL approves all contracts) be placed in escrow based on the language in the CBA I quoted from the article above.

Thoughts?