When the Cincinnati Bengals took the field in Week 8 against the Philadelphia Eagles, they were known to secure the victory.
Now, it’s true, they were the home team, and they weren’t even favored by a field goal by most margins, but in the end, anyone betting money on the Bengals looked pretty stupid, as they put Jalen Hurts back in – in a mismatched match. shoes – and the Eagles earned their most complete victory of the season and had to watch Saquon Barkley control the time of possession with his hard-nosed runs.
Discussing the team’s offensive woes with reporters after the game, Burrow addressed the Bengals. inability to do much on the groundwith Barkley almost doubled Cincinatti’s point total single-handedly.
“They have a good front, so when you have trouble running like that, then their passers start to take the lead a little bit,” Burrow told reporters. “We knew that going in. We knew their front was good, that they were going to be disruptive. We knew we were going to have to score points and we didn’t score enough today.
In a game where not only Barkley, but also Hurts outplayed Bengals leader Chase Brown, it makes sense that Burrow would be asked about his team’s success on the field, as they looked almost one-dimensional in Week 8. Fortunately, Burrow had plenty more to say on the subject, including what has changed in recent weeks.
Joe Burrow admits it’s tough for Bengals to win without a running game
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Further discussing the Bengals’ running game after Week 8, Burrow noted that after a rough stretch in Week 1, Cincinnati found some rhythm on the ground by pairing Brown with Zack Moss. However, in recent weeks, the Bengals have struggled to get Moss on the field, with Moss averaging less than three yards per carry in each of the last four weeks, which has changed the way teams opponents play Zac Taylor’s offense.
“After the first game, we played well for a few weeks in a row. The last few weeks haven’t been good enough. When you play against good rushers like we have the last few weeks, you have to keep them off balance and be able to pass the ball. If you don’t do that, then they won’t be as worried about it and then their edge guys will start getting pushed and the play action won’t be as good. So you have to go back and play, and that’s what these kinds of teams want. So it’s difficult when you can’t do it. »
As Bengals fans saw in Week 8, Nick Sirianni and the Eagles forged an offense designed around controlling time of possession on the ground while making big shots down the field to their elite receivers on the ground. While it may seem somewhat counterproductive, the Eagles finished the game with two 80-plus yard receivers and a 100-yard rusher, which is a feat the Bengals haven’t recorded since Joe Mixon was team member.
