Waiting all day for the Bengals game to begin on the west coast was an exercise in patience this past Sunday. So it was thoughtful of Joe Burrow to let us know straight away that he was back to being Superstar Joe. On Cincinnati’s third snap in the first quarter, Burrow broke away from San Francisco All-Pros Arik Armstead and Nick Bosa, sprinted to his right, and zipped a perfect throw to Tee Higgins for a third and long conversion.
That play accomplished several key things. It set the team up for success, converting a first down on a drive that would eventually result in a touchdown to give Cincinnati the all-important edge in game script. It got Higgins, whose injured rib and big-picture contract deadlock has combined to steep the receiver in an early-season malaise, involved early on his way to 69 yards, his second-best total of the young season. And, of course, it showed the world that Gimpy Joe was officially gone and Disco Joe had arrived!
As Zac Taylor put it, “That really catapulted us into the game.” A game, of course, that the Bengals won 31-17, flipping the narrative of this so-called “Season from Hell” as adroitly as Ja’Marr Chase flipped after scoring a key touchdown in the fourth quarter. (By the way, cool it with the backflips! The last thing we need is for some sort of celebration injury because Uno felt like honoring Mary Lou Retton.)
Less showy but equally important in assessing the Golden Calf were other scrambles and pocket dances, including Burrow calling his own number on a quarterback draw and a play where he leapt as a Niners defender went for his ankles. Burrow was tackled on the play but got up looking jaunty, as he did after several runs, doing the Joe Mixon Mic Drop and banging himself on the helmet in a display of his old Shiestyness.
And, oh yeah, Burrow went 28-32 for 283 yards and three touchdowns, at one point completing 19 consecutive passes, one shy of Ken Anderson’s franchise record. That this game came against those demons in red and gold, the franchise that denied Cincinnati its two deserved championships and has seldom lost to the Bengals over the ensuing years (S.F. is now 13-5 all-time vs the Bengals) made it that much sweeter.
As I pleaded for in last week’s preview column, the Bengals used the bye week to come up with several formations and concepts that were run from under center rather than Burrow’s preferred shotgun. The Niners were clearly caught off guard by the 15 snaps Cincinnati ran with Burrow’s hands on Ted Karras’s butt; the Bengals had run just 16 plays under center the entire season to that point. They were able to run the ball with great efficiency out of those looks, piling up 134 yards on the ground. Mixon accounted for 87 of them (5.4 yards per carry) while running with far greater elan than he does out of shotgun-heavy looks.
He hasn’t been Mr. Irrelevant for quite some time now, but Brock Purdy was certainly overshadowed by Burrow’s brilliance. It’s not like he played poorly, despite interceptions on back-to-back passes that turned the game and unleashed a storm of “Purdy turns back into a pumpkin!” Halloween takes in the national media.
Ironically, in fact, he played better and showed off more high-level throws than in the large majority of his wins, by dint of being behind in the game and forced into passing. That’s why starting fast and putting pressure on opponents (and a run-heavy team like the Niners more than most) is so critical—despite all the good plays Purdy made, he isn’t Burrow, and inevitably he made some mistakes with all those dropbacks. Both interceptions came thanks to tremendous plays by the linebacking duo of Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt.
There were lots of heroes Sunday, as happens with such a good win. For all the talk about Burrow, the bye week may have been most important to Orlando Brown, who was carrying a twitchy groin injury. The rest did him well, as he and fellow tackle Jonah Williams mostly neutered San Fran’s highly-paid but underachieving pass rush. (The Niners recognized that issue and dealt for Chase Young on Tuesday, reuniting him with Buckeye teammate Bosa.) Mike Hilton had a sensational game in the slot. Andrei Iosivas, everyone’s favorite, caught his second touchdown of the season on a wonderful ad lib. And of course there was Trey Hendrickson, outplaying the far more ballyhooed Bosa despite getting his ankle stomped on early in the game. Trey is in the top five in virtually every pass rush stat, though he’s never mentioned among the top edge defenders in the NFL.
So now Cincinnati is 4-3, and thanks to losses by Cleveland and Pittsburgh, whose quarterback struggles at last caught up to them, they’re right in the AFC North mix. But the schedule stays tough, with our friends from Buffalo paying a Sunday night visit to the riverfront this weekend. Obviously, there will be a great deal of emotion when Damar Hamlin comes out on the field where he nearly passed away last winter. It’s a godsend that he not only survived but is back playing and competing at the NFL level, and all the best to him.
That said, Burrow and Co. will be attacking the Bills secondary of which Hamlin is a part, because they’ve been relatively weak in that regard (13th against the pass by DVOA; for context, Cincinnati is 11th and S.F. 10th after the Bengals sliced them up). Since losing linebacker Matt Milano and corner Tra’davious White for the season, Buffalo’s defense has been leaking oil; the Bills traded for corner Rasul Douglas on Tuesday to help reinforce the back end. They are 29th in the league against opposing No. 1 wide receivers, which in layman’s terms is like ringing the dinner bell for Ja’Marr.
Josh Allen covers for whatever holes the Bills may have, of course, and he will be a tough task for the Bengals regardless of circumstances. He and his team are no doubt still smarting from the playoff game in the Buffalo snow last postseason and feel they owe Cincinnati a better game after being humiliated them on their own field. Inside that locker room they’re chomping to return the favor, especially now that the Bengals are suddenly back in the good graces of the NFL commentariat and those same folks are looking askance at the Bills.
Regardless of the teams’ differing trajectories at the moment, this will be an incredibly difficult game. Cincinnati’s opponent will have the rest advantage this week—Buffalo hasn’t played since last Thursday night—and the higher motivation, at least from afar.
That is where Burrow comes in. Now that the limping appears to be a thing of the past, he can get back to his normal, everyday role of lifting the Bengals to his level. There are still plenty of holes and soft spots—but when Joe is playing like he did Sunday, none of them matter in the end.
Robert Weintraub heads up Bengals coverage for Cincinnati Magazine and has written for The New York Times, Grantland, Slate, Deadspin, and Football Outsiders. Follow him on Twitter at @robwein. Listen to him on Mo Egger’s show on 1530AM every Thursday at 5:20 p.m.
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