Just when all hope seemed to be gone, the Bengals go out and get an upset win to keep their season hanging on by a thread. On the defensive side, the pass rush, which has struggled all year, carried a big part of the load. Ossai had a staggering 8 pressures and a couple of sacks. I mentioned Murphy’s progress in this sub a few weeks ago, and his continued success is encouraging. The last 5 games for him will be very telling, but I’m cautiously optimistic that he really has turned a corner.
In what probably is not a coincidence, the team’s best defensive performance coincided with Al Golden’s best game of the year. It’s like someone told him that he is actually allowed to blitz. He had Lamar Jackson flustered all game. Hope to see more of the same going forward.
Also should shoutout DJ Turner and Jalen Davis in the secondary. Both were great on Thursday night, with Turner continuing to look like a potential long term number 1, while Davis, as a practice squad call up, has done a lot to help his stock going forward.
On the offensive side, the OL gets the game ball. Run blocking was solid, but the pass protection was elite across the board. Nobody looked like a weak link, and it could not have come at a better time, with Burrow’s mobility not quite 100% due to the toe injury. They made the right call putting Risner back into the starting lineup, in place of Rivers.
Among the negative aspects from week 13, Tinsley was a bit disappointing. His routes were pretty solid, but he let some catchable passes hit the ground, even if they weren’t the easiest ones. Only made 2 catches on 9 targets.
As well, I saw someone else on this sub question Zac Taylor, and I have to say, I agree. His play calling with Joe Burrow on the field continues to look like back yard football. A prime example was after the Bengals recovered a fumble at the Baltimore 2. 3 incomplete passes where it looked like the play call was “get open.” No scheming, no trickery, no play action. Elite players have a certain floor when they hit the field, and this has prevented Zac from hitting rock bottom. But I’m far from pleased with him, especially when you see what someone like Ben Johnson is able to do in Chicago.
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> No scheming, no trickery, no play action
Lol. Yeah, the obvious thing to do when you get the ball at the 2 is run trick plays.
What’s funny though is blaming Taylor for player mistakes.
1st down had Fant run an immediate curl at the goal line against man coverage. [OBJr missed his block](https://imgur.com/a/KxZcNL6) and let a blitzer have a bee line to Burrow, causing a throwaway. If OBJr blocks correctly, Burrow fires a laser into Fant’s stomach [while he has the defender boxed out behind him](https://imgur.com/a/2nuNn1p) for an easy touchdown.
2nd down run was another missed block but it’s a little more excusable in a completely stacked box. Sample had two men to choose from and [for some reason chose the outside man, leading to the inside diving in and causing Perine to juke](https://imgur.com/a/QNrHJnY) and lose momentum so he had no power to push through the pile. Bland sure but again, if the blocking assignment is done correctly the play has a much higher chance of success.
3rd down they rushed 4 and had the two linebackers covering the quick middle throw at the goal line. Your only chance in that scenario is to go to the sideline for a one on one matchup, [which is what happened and was completely open](https://imgur.com/a/HBdRFeP), but the throw was centuries late and the defender was able to make the play because Yoshi ran out of room. Burrow needed to throw that ball 2 seconds earlier instead of continuing to run.
4th down they actually ran a double slant chip concept, and Gesicki had inside leverage on his coverage, but [Burrow missed the throw](https://imgur.com/a/5NVkNNM). If Burrow sits for a quarter second longer and actually hits Gesicki on the numbers instead of rushing it and forcing a diving attempt, it’s a touchdown.
Two blocking mistakes and two Burrow mistakes caused those plays to fail. It had absolutely nothing to do with playcalling.