Ja'Marr Chase and Joe Burrow criticize the offensive play calling

[Whatever]

(09-20-2021, 12:46 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: Yeah, the backs have stunk so far in pass pro. Mixon and Perine have 2 of the bottom 3 pass pro grades on the team right now.

You combine backs that can't pick up rushers and TE's that are missing assignments, with an o-line that is still very inconsistent...you've got protection issues across the board. Add in that Burrow still holds on the ball far too long at times...there's just a lot that has to be worked on and corrected going forward.

It's very concerning the amount of assignment errors out there by the backs, TE's, and OL.  We thought this was a Jim Turner issue and it would improve under Pollack, but it hasn't so far.  Hopefully, it's a byproduct of them shuffling the deck too much to find a starting 5 and the guys have to settle in next to each other.  In fairness, we aren't seeing assignment issues out of any other position group, so it appears to be isolated to pass pro.  There's still talent issues in the IOL, but it would be manageable if people could just block the right guys.

Joe still holds the ball too long.  In fact, it seems worse than last year.  I wonder if limiting his attempts is causing him to press more when he does throw.  Somebody needs to break him of this, for his own sake.  

We could run screens to supplement the run game, but we don't have a good receiving RB.  They are sadly paying Mixon $12 mil a year to effectively be a 2 down back.  Maybe Evans grows into that role.

Chase is correct.  With suspect pass pro, teams are going to sit on quick routes and the only way to move them off of that is to mix in deep shots.  Fortunately, his success with the deep ball early will force teams to account for it.