Headline on ESPN Coaching decisions doom Bengals

[CJD]

(09-12-2022, 11:32 AM)Au165 Wrote: I've watched it back twice. Joe Burrow was awful and not just on the plays which were obvious. He was predetermining throws at the snap, holding the ball way too long, not working down to his check downs and was BAD at run checks at the line. He was too eager to hit the home run rather than taking the short stuff in the 1st half.

Pittsburgh did the same thing that teams did to KC last year. They went heavy two high shell and then forced us to work long methodical drives and Burrow had no interest in that. Later in the game we started dumping into to the backs and walked down the field. The routes were there on the called plays and that is on Burrow wanting to prove something it seemed like. When he did push it down field he was often late which specifically caused the pick when the safety drove under it down the seam.

The missed run checks honestly were bad. First half he was checking out of runs in favor of longer developing passes then int he second half he was checking into runs against stacked boxes. Those are calls HE makes at the line and he was not on his game at all. Frankly, it was the worst game of football I have seen him play even beyond the turnovers.

I think it's also worth noting that Joe was making certain throws (like the interception on the 4th down play) that he simply does not have the arm strength to bullet in there. Especially when he's still evidently recovering his core strength (and perhaps his arm strength) from his surgery. He isn't Justin Herbert and his success thus far in his career has not relied on those howitzer shots to squeeze the ball into ultra tight windows. 

I did notice that later in the game, Mixon was being given a free 10 yards every time Joe dropped back to pass and that's what Joe needs to do moving forward. Take what the defense is giving him. I am not sure why he was looking for the home run all day, but I don't think he'll make those mistakes again.