Taylor & Callahan Are Figuring It Out!

[BFritz21]

(10-18-2022, 09:57 AM)thompson19osu Wrote: The difference I noticed were the routes and portion of the field that was utilized. A lot of the quick hits were slants using the middle of the field. Big change from our typical passes which is outside the hashes. They essentially moved the ball at will yesterday aside from when Mixon was giving up sacks.

Shorter throws over the middle/slants also gives the defenders less time to react and Burrow can hit those passes all day with perfect passes. As Taylor and Callahan are figuring that out, I think Burrow also is figuring it out and realizing that every play doesn't have to be a home run deep ball, especially when players like Chase can break short curl routes for long plays like he did against the Saints.

(10-18-2022, 10:11 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I know a lot of people don't want to hear this...but having success running the ball is the number one reason why this offense is taking off.

They are running everything out of shotgun now and have ditched the outside zone stuff. Defenses aren't playing as much two high and are now respecting our running game. This completely opens up the offense.

Mixon has looked awesome the past couple of weeks.

I agree but I think we need to feed him the ball more, especially in short yardage and especially now that teams are going to start fearing our pass game with shorter routes. Defenses saw how dangerous our receivers, especially Chase, are when they catch the ball with even a little space to move.

Hell, I think even Hurst showed some decent ability to make defenders miss tackles when he has the ball with a little space.

(10-18-2022, 11:20 AM)bengalfan74 Wrote: I've also been of the opinion it helps finish off seasons as well. What I mean is when you get into the back half of your schedule and the weather gets colder and wetter and more miserable the passing game tends to slow a bit. And you need the ability to get those 3rd and two's, score in the red zone inside the 5 running it. Kill the clock late in games and so on.

It can and often does make a big difference in the W column. 

I've preached that all along because of how cold it can get in the AFCN cities in November and December. Hell, it was in the 60s/70s a few days ago here in Cinci and now it's in the low 40s! 

I've been preaching all along that Joe needs to be under center more and we need to feed the ball to Mixon with a head of steam because that's where he works best from and the shorter passing game I think makes being under center even more valuable because Burrow doesn't need as much time to see routes develop.

(10-18-2022, 11:28 AM)Soonerpeace Wrote: Joe gets tons of unprecedented leeway in free lancing in this offense. It’s paid huge dividends. But he’s been slow to accept the short passing game. The coaches haven’t neglected Tyler Boyd. The coaches haven’t just learned how to defeat the cover 2 with deep safeties. Joe hates it. They’ve been adapting the offense to suit Joe’s preferences. Zac said after the game that the offense bought into the scheme for NO. What he meant was Joe. Joe finally realized the cover 2 wasn’t going away. He adapted. Joe wants to win and his mindset has changed. They are working on the receivers breaking more tackles on short passes and their YAC. Of course the OL playing better has helped. There’s not a staff that’s ever coached in the NFL thst would wait until the 6th game to adapt. Joe just hated it. He’s still learning and hates to lose.

I'm glad that he gets a lot of leeway in free lancing and play calling but I just hope that he calls a lot of run plays. As it gets colder, and especially with this line, we'll need to neutralize pass rushes. Parsons and Watt being able to tee off on the pass rush is what lost us the first two games, IMCO.

(10-18-2022, 01:32 PM)Soonerpeace Wrote: Charlie Goldsmith: The Enquirer

After the Cincinnati Bengals lost to the Dallas Cowboys in a Week 2 game where the Bengals’ offense looked broken, head coach Zac Taylor and offensive coordinator Brian Callahan had a meeting to deconstruct the identity of the Bengals’ offense.

The Bengals were running two separate offenses at that point. There was a shotgun passing game, which looks a lot like the spread offense that Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow ran at LSU. And there was a power wide-zone run game the Bengals ran when they were under center.

The problem was the two schemes didn’t mesh. Defenses could tell what was coming based on how the Bengals lined up. They were predictable, and Taylor and Callahan

The message from Taylor and Burrow was to play for first downs, not necessarily for explosive plays. With the Bengals’ success over the middle of the field, with the run game and with run-pass options, Mixon said the Saints became the first team this year that “had to play the Bengals honest.”
“Burrow wasn’t looking for the big play, he was taking what the defense was giving us,” Mixon said. “That led to the glory everybody is getting right now. As long as he’s doing what we’ve got to do, we’ll win nine times out of ten. Really 10 times out of 10. That’s the type of offense we are.”

I LOVE IT! Keep it simple! I don't understand why we weren't running Mixon more, but the short passing game was working well! I love that Mixon and all the other players are buying into it and realizing that their stat line doesn't matter as long as we get the W!

Of course, doing that will lead to the safeties cheating up and then Burrow can hit Chase or any other receiver on a quick pass, make one guy miss, and go for a big gain, or even just loft one up and know that Chase or anyone else can outrun the corner!