CINCINNATI – Three weeks ago, not many people gave the Bengals much of a chance of playing meaningful games in the final two weeks, let alone making the playoffs.
But after winning three straight games for the first time this season – a rather modest mark of accomplishment in a deep season of disappointment – the Bengals know that with a win this Saturday against the Broncos, they will indeed keep their playoff hopes alive heading into the finale against the Steelers in Pittsburgh.
In essence, the Bengals have been playing three playoff games the last three weeks.
“We’ve had a lot of those the last several weeks,” record-setting quarterback Joe Burrow said. “It feels good to play in big games.”
“It’s our game that we have to win this weekend,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said.
The victory of just being relevant to the playoff race and seeing their name in the last column on TV as “in the hunt” may seem pretty hollow but to Burrow it’s not.
“That’s why you work so hard. You want to play in these types of games that matter at the end in close seasons,” Burrow added. “Hopefully, we can go out and get a win and put ourselves in a good spot.
“We’ve won three in a row. That’s all that it means. It means that we work hard to go out and perform well on Sundays, so it’s nice to put together a string of good performances in a row, and hopefully that continues.”
For it to continue, Burrow will have to answer the call against one of the best corners in the game in Patrick Surtain – with corner Riley Moss possibly returning from an MCL sprain – and arguably the deepest group of impact edge pass rushers in the game.
“He’s so patient when he’s covering people,” Burrow said of Surtain “He never panics. He uses his length and his size to his advantage, makes it tough. You know, he’s always around the ball. He’s never just gonna get beat super clean, and he’s gonna make you make a great throw and catch, and those are guys that are tough to go against.”
One of the reasons the Broncos are 9-6 after 15 games is because they have one of the most tenacious and ferocious pass rushes in the NFL, led by Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto. That only helps the cause a talented secondary led by Surtain.
“They’re quick. They get off the snap,” Burrow said. “They get around the edge. They can work with power through guys, too. They just get that push, so the pocket can collapse and they just chase you down and there’s not a lot of places to exit for the quarterback. It’s a good defense. They’ve played good football all around in all three phases. Their special teams are really good as well. Tough group.
“They do a lot of different things,” Burrow said. “You can tell that they’re well coached. They make it tough on quarterbacks playing so many different coverages and bringing a lot of different blitzes and doing a bunch of different things. They’ve got a lot of defenses. As a quarterback, you have to prepare that way.”
One weapon Burrow has mastered of late is his cadence. It came up clutch in two spots Sunday against the Browns. Facing first and 10 from his 1 after the Vonn Bell forced fumble in the first quarter, Burrow got the Browns to jump and gave him a valuable five extra yards to work with on the first play. That 99-yard drive ended on with his “Superman” TD pass to Tee Higgins.
Then, late in the fourth quarter, Burrow got Myles Garrett to jump offsides and with the free play, Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase for the record-setting third touchdown of the game, allowing him to pass Tom Brady with seven straight games of three touchdown passes and at least 250 yards passing.
“Cadence is a big weapon. I guess a guy that comes to mind is Aaron Rodgers,” Burrow said Tuesday. “He’s been known to get free plays for his whole career, and I think that’s something I’d like to be known by, too. I think I’ve taken a step in that department this year.
“I don’t think you do it that way. But it’s not just the quarterback involved, it’s everybody understanding each play and what we want to do with the cadence on each play. Whether it’s making fake calls, demeanor, a lot of different things go into it when you’re changing up the cadence.”
His head coach, Zac Taylor, called it “the ultimate weapon” after Sunday’s game.
“The more football you play, the more you start to focus on little things like that that can really make a difference,” Burrow added.
The devil is in the details and with Burrow, he’s smart enough to know that he’s going to have to use every possible trick to gain an advantage against Denver on Saturday to record Cincinnati’s first win over a winning team this season and keep the playoff dreams alive.
“I think that’s what separates the great players from the good players,” Burrow said of paying attention to the details.”
The Bengals have generated nine takeaways in the last two games against Tennessee and Cleveland, by seven different players. Continuing that trend would go a long way to keeping Cincinnati’s playoff hopes alive.
“It’s good,” Taylor said of the eight turnovers created in two weeks. “It breeds that confidence when you get a turnover and then who’s going to get the next one. And we were close on some, too. Some tipped balls where guys are close to them. It’s good. When they come in bunches like that, that confidence steamrolls among the defense, and we certainly need more of that this week. Gotta win that turnover battle.”
