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Bengals' offensive evolution spins forward vs. Panthers when they need it most

30 September 2024Last Update :
Bengals' offensive evolution spins forward vs. Panthers when they need it most

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With six seconds left until halftime and Joe Burrow standing in the shotgun at the 5-yard line, Zack Moss stood next to him prepared to run his swing route to the right but found himself thinking more about a potential scramble drill that could follow.

In this spot on the field and game, it was highly unlikely Burrow would throw to him risking getting nothing if he failed to score.

Yet, as Moss ran out to the right and turned back, he was as surprised as anyone to see one of the most critical moments of the game — and the Bengals’ season — end up in his hands.

“Hold your breath,” head coach Zac Taylor said of the play after the Bengals’ 34-24 win over the Panthers.

As Moss caught the ball — a potential momentum swing and critical empty possession were on the shoulders of awaiting safety Nick Scott — he nearly fell down but gathered himself enough to make the former Bengals starter miss then dived for a score.

It was the type of play the Bengals had to have as their defense continued to sort through a growing pile of debilitating issues. Also, the type of play they have been begging to see for years: turning a check-down and missed tackle forced by the running back into a weapon.

“The ball caught me off-guard,” Moss said. “Joe decided to throw it to me. Usually, that is something you don’t want to do in that moment. Luckily, I was able to make a play and do something to help the team.”

Moss’ fifth receiving touchdown of his career and first as a Bengal saved the moment as part one of a touchdown double-dip sandwiching halftime that essentially won the game for Cincinnati.

“Maybe not my best decision,” Burrow said, “but it worked out for us.”

Most importantly, it worked to keep hope alive for a season that was spiraling into irrelevancy. One win to try and figure out the rest of it.

The latest evolution of the offense from new pieces like Moss, Chase Brown, Erick All and Andrei Iosivas, sprinkled in with the expected focus on their holy trinity of Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, showed off how many new ways they can find explosiveness.

Offensive shootouts like Sunday are games the Bengals will have to win this year unless health and time create dramatic changes on defense. After scoring 67 points the last two weeks, the vision of pulling it off is becoming clearer and even more exciting inside a notably loose and relieved Bengals’ locker room.

“We have so many playmakers on this offense,” said running back Chase Brown, who contributed 90 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. “You can really spit the ball out to anybody out there and we are bound to create some sort of explosive play.”

The Bengals produced 16 plays gaining at least 10 yards and seven players contributed those.

This comes after piling up 20 such plays on Monday against Washington. That’s the most in a two-game span by the Bengals since the end of the 2021 season against Kansas City and Baltimore.

“I can think of about every guy that was in that game made critical plays for us in big moments,” Taylor said. “I’m not going to list them because I’ll forget somebody. We got a lot of good pieces over there. And the line is playing their tails off right now, giving them great protection so (Burrow) feels like he can sit back there, he can call anything and the run game is starting to take off and there’s a lot of confidence there as well.”

The open confidence in the play sheet showed up in another critical goal-line moment early in the game. Facing third-and-goal from the 3, Burrow came out in 11 personnel with All as the tight end and his elite receivers spread out and garnering the expected attention. He ended up handing off to Brown who waltzed into the end zone behind movement blocks from Cordell Volson, Alex Cappa and Ted Karras.

This was quite the tendency-breaker. Since entering the league, Burrow has faced third-and-goal at the 3-yard line nine times. He threw it all nine until Sunday. That included a critical incompletion to Trenton Irwin two weeks ago in Kansas City.

Willingness to lean into a running game that is delivering, often assisted by 12-personnel packages, allows them to be far more unpredictable in even the most predictable situations.

“If we can do that all year, we’re gonna be one of the best offenses in the league consistently,” Burrow said of 30 carries for 131 yards from his two backs.

Then there was All, who earns more playing time every week and rewards the decision with winning football. On Sunday it was holding a block forever on the edge to spring a Brown check-down for 10 yards, playing fullback as a lead blocker for an explosive run and then catching a pass during the four-minute drive and making a defender miss to earn a first down. Four games into his career he’s become one of their most versatile weapons.

“A dog,” left tackle Orlando Brown said with wide eyes when asked about the rookie.

Then as attention went to Chase and Higgins running outside the hashes in the two-minute drill, Burrow ripped a dart to Iosivas up the seam against two-high. He held on despite taking a bruising hit to his ribs that temporarily took him out of the game. Big, physical vertical threats who can exploit two-high safeties and make tough catches over the middle have been notably lacking for years. That play is the type offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher wanted to add to the arsenal when they shifted away from the traditional slot to a bigger, inside-outside combination player.

Then there’s Higgins. As attention centered on Chase early, Burrow exploited Higgins’ matchups repeatedly. He caught five passes for 49 yards before anybody else gained two yards in the air. The Panthers had a matchup to exploit and Burrow showed what it looks like if you leave him alone.

“Everybody has been moving around making plays,” Chase said. “Tee looked pretty good starting off the first half. That’s what we needed, someone to get the momentum going for us.”

Then they needed Chase to blow the top off. His 63-yard catch-with-several-broken-tackles touchdown becomes the latest in his growing highlight reel. It’s fitting that play put him into elite territory going over 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in his first 50 career games. The only other players on that list are Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, A.J. Green and Odell Beckham Jr.

This one was a fitting tribute to the skill set that makes him unique.

“For Ja’Marr to break all the tackles and have the contact balance that he has which is so difficult to put all together in one snap,” Taylor said. “That’s what Ja’Marr did. Starts on the backside of the play, runs and in-breaker, great catch, great tackle-breaking ability, great acceleration to go finish the run down the field.”

That element of the Bengals offense will always be there while Burrow and Chase are together. What’s different this year is the protection the line has given Taylor to confidently call longer-developing plays and Burrow to consistently hold the ball an extra tick for them to come open.

“They gave us a pressure look and dropped out of it and brought one of those guys,” Burrow said. “The offensive line did a great job on that play. I could have sat back there for another five seconds if I wanted to.”

While adding Houdini acts to create third-down conversions out of thin air, Burrow is showing off the type of offense he can conduct. All the pieces play into his unique ability to consistently exploit defenses’ weaknesses on the fly. He’s never had this many tools at his disposal to make it happen.

The viral story of the day might have been Burrow giving a rare pre-game speech to his team that their backs were against the wall and needing to focus on one win. Those moments and Burrow picking more spots for those are important.

More important for the present moment are Burrow and company making up for a defense that is piling up injuries (adding a stinger for Trey Hendrickson), failing to get a consistent pass rush, missing tackles, allowing deep completions, rotating corners and getting pushed at the point of attack.

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Sunday proved they are capable. Golf clap to that against Washington and Carolina, two of the league’s worst defenses. They will need even more as the competition improves exponentially entering AFC North play against Baltimore.

“Guys are able to go out there and be themselves and play,” Brown said. “Talk about a great offense and you have No. 9 processes better than anyone in the world everything will start to click. The thing I’m most excited about is we haven’t peaked yet. I feel like there is so much meat left on the bone. Some of the run plays and the pass game, there is so much more.”

(Photo of Ja’Marr Chase: Grant Halverson / Getty Images)

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