NFL/World Series Open Thread: Break Up the Bengals Edition
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Before we get to the football, enjoy this sumptuous bit of tic-tac-toe from what as I type is the top team in the Western Conference:
Yeah, this is just great stuff from the @NHLFlames. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/NiUegtdkJw— NHL (@NHL) October 31, 2021
I argued with multiple people including family members about the Flames hiring Darryl Sutter, and my contention remains that when you have the chance to replace a sub-sub-replacement level coach with a Hall of Fame-caliber one there ain’t no choice at all.
What I was not right about was the Cincinnati Bengals, who I thought were at least a year away while Rob picked them to make the playoffs:
Before receiver Ja’Marr Chase’s arrival, the Cincinnati Bengals may have been the N.F.L.’s most inconsequential franchise.
The Bengals have a reputation as the football equivalent of a mom-and-pop corner hardware store operating on a shoestring budget. Their state-of-the-mid-20th-century fitness facility features five military surplus weight benches and a garden hose for hydration. Their practice field yields alfalfa in the off-season. Their scouting department consists of unpaid interns and a box of VHS tapes of Ohio State games. Trade requests go straight to their answering machine.
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Chase’s arrival is changing all of that. The fifth overall pick in the 2021 draft, he has the second-most receiving yards in the league (754) on 35 receptions. He has caught six touchdown passes, four of them for 30-plus yards. He is on a pace to shatter the N.F.L. rookie record of 1,400 receiving yards set by Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings last season. (Bill Groman holds the pro football record for receiving yards as a rookie — 1,473 yards in 1960 for the Houston Oilers in the American Football League.)
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Chase has become his quarterback’s favorite target both on deep passes (21.5 yards per reception) and on third and fourth downs (a team-high 13 receptions for 10 first downs).
His emergence has also boosted the profile of Coach Zac Taylor, who in his first two seasons looked like just another stubble-bearded, would-be offensive wunderkind from the Sean McVay knockoff factory.
Draft experts insisted that Taylor and the Bengals would be better off selecting University of Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell to protect Burrow than a playmaker like Chase. After all, it doesn’t matter how many receivers are open downfield when the quarterback is lying on his back. Sewell has been a fine addition for the Detroit Lions, and drafting him would have been the safe move for a team with aspirations of someday losing a playoff game.
Instead, the Bengals opted to build one of the league’s strongest receiving corps. With Chase, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, tight end C.J. Uzomah and others spread across the formation, opponents can neither focus coverage strictly on Chase nor blitz Burrow without risking peril elsewhere.
The Bengals also upgraded their defense by doing something they are typically loath to do: spend money on free agents. New arrivals like Eli Apple, Chidobe Awuzie and Mike Hilton have stabilized their secondary, while tackles Trey Hendrickson and D.J. Reader, a 2020 acquisition who was injured for most of last season, have bolstered the run defense and pass rush.
The veteran defense complements the explosive young offense well: Opponents forced to play catch-up after some heaves by Burrow soon discover that none of their own receivers are open.
I still have concerns about Taylor and the o-line, but you really have to admire the organization for ignoring the conventional wisdom and betting on what they thought was a generational wideout talent, and being proved absolutely right. The other side of it is that the NFL’s most disappointing team, the Dolphins, had the chance to take Randy Moss 2.0 but traded down and went with a less accomplished SEC wideout one pick after Chase. Not a ridiculous gamble on paper but boy it looks awful now.
Anyway, Rob’s pick was analytically sound: if you’re looking for a surprise contender, look for a breakout offense and hope that the volatility of defensive performance bounces in your favor.