SI Article on Bengals Identity

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(12-02-2023, 02:19 PM)Bengalstripes9 Wrote: Great read. I’ve been critical of the bengals offense and the main reason is the browns and ravens have figured us out.

The bengals need more balance and deception. The article mentions running more draws and that is a great point and something we were great at last year with Perine.

That said, they need to develop their under center game more. I liked what they did against the 9ers and bills. They need to build on that because in the past when they went under center it was obvious it was a run and the defense knew what to expect.

My major beef with the offense is that defenses know what to expect far too often. We are predictable and that’s why the browns are able to tee off on us defensively.

They need to develop more balance, with more deceptive concepts and routes. Use motion, plays that look similar but attack different areas of the defense. As much as burrow doesn’t like going under center and the offense is pass heavy by design, they need more balance. The colts always passed the ball a lot with Peyton and it wasn’t until they really developed the run game and defense that they won a Super Bowl. Great defenses can shut down elite passing attacks and you simply have to find other ways to win. If your winning formula is always the same, teams know what to expect. If you have a diverse scheme and you can win running or passing, that’s when you are tough to beat. We need to be able to lean on the running game and win by running the ball one week, and passing the next. We need to be able to adjust our scheme to the team we are playing and attack their weaknesses better.

To me the players make this scheme better and not the other way around. All I want and I think any bengals fans wants is for the scheme to make the players better. If that were the case we would be champs. You look at the patriots or chiefs recently, that scheme makes the players better. They’ve gotten it done with no name receivers. It’s my belief that the running game, oline, and defense are more important than who you have to throw the ball to and Tom Brady is the perfect example of that.

For a few years now the bengals have had arguably the best wide receiver group in the nfl. Yet, they have not maximized their production. Burrow hasn’t won an mvp with all that talent. To me that screams that scheme is the issue. They need to continually tweak it and improve it and find ways to be more balanced and less predictable. When they do that the sky is the limit, not less than 24 points per game in the playoffs.

They do. If they run cover 2, that loosens up the box and sets up the run. That's exactly what was happening in Baltimore until losing Burrow changed everything. If they stack the box and blitz, they carve them up with the pass.  It's like no one can figure out why we start slow when Burrow is rusty every year. If you want more under center plays, trade Burrow. That's your option, according to the article and countless others that have pointed this out to you. They are absolutely scheming according to his strengths and what he likes. People say that's what they want.....they do it, and folks say they aren't, lmao. This article lays it out pretty clear....we are not going under center much with Joe Burrow at QB. Will people rip him a new one like they do the coaches for not doing it? I think we know the answer. 


I agree, and so does the article, we need some tweaks here and there. We also need better execution. We don't need to feed Mixon just because if it isn't working. This team would still be in contention if management had invested in an experienced ex starter as backup QB. They didn't, and maybe they shouldn't have due to contracts. This is what you're going to get....unless you spend the next 3-4 weeks installing a new system to cater to Jake Browning. By then it's too late anyway, so why bother? See if Browning can learn the system built for our 275 million dollar man well enough to maintain in the future.