Bengals Beat: With A Dominating Win Over Colts, Bengals Show Their Swagger Has Returned, Will Playoffs Follow?

CINCINNATI — These Bengals have their swagger back.

It’s been five weeks since Joe Burrow damaged his wrist in a 34-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The Bengals lost that game and the following one to the Steelers to fall to 5-6 on the season.

With Jake Browning never having made an NFL start, the prospects of the Bengals finding confidence, let alone going on a run, seemed improbable at best.

But after watching the Bengals win on the road against Jacksonville on Monday night and then come back on a short week and dominate an Indianapolis team, 34-14, Sunday that had won four straight, there’s a brand new vibe inside Paycor.

Does it mean they are suddenly favorites in the AFC? No.

Does it mean they’re a worthy playoff-caliber team?

“Damn right,” Joe Mixon said.

The attitude is back with the Bengals, the kind of attitude a team like the Bengals need to prove to themselves that the final month of the season can be their domain and a playoff spot can be theirs for a third straight year if they just take care of business like they did in a six-day span.

The Bengals outgained Indianapolis, 385-272. They had touchdown drives of 92, 72, 75 and 71 yards. They won a game by 20 points that wasn’t that close. And they scored 30 points in consecutive games for the first time this season.

Browning completed 18-of-24 passes for 275 yards before coming out with a thumb cramp with 14 minutes left in the game. He would return but he had already done enough damage to the Colts defense to put the game out of reach and earn his second win as an NFL starter.

“He’s playing his butt off, man,” said Tee Higgins, who caught a go-ball from Browning and had a touchdown taken away on a debatable offensive pass interference call in the end zone. “He’s playing like a true number one quarterback and that’s all you can ask for in a guy like him is to come in — he’s been with this offense for two years — and just come in and it’s showing that he’s been in this offense and has been ready.”

The Bengals had plenty of well-earned swagger with Joe Burrow leading them to the postseason the last two years. Under Browning, these Bengals are learning a bit of a different style with Browning playing the role of “Cool Hand Luke” to perfection. Browning wasn’t just throwing passes on the scout team and running plays, he was taking time to get to know his teammates.

Now it’s paying off.

“Yeah, I think my relationship with guys on the team kind of goes back to being here for a while, and not really being in a (starting role),” Browning said. “People are going to approach Joe differently than they approach me when I’m the backup, so I kind of get to know all of these guys really well on a pretty personal level. So I think, now that I’m playing and all that, we still have that same relationship. I still feel like the exact same person. I think also, I’m just genuinely being myself. I struggle to get outside of that.”

Perhaps the reason Browning is playing so relaxed is that he knows he’s been embraced by everyone in the building, including the quarterback he replaced. Joe Burrow turned 27 Sunday but it was Burrow who gifted seats to his suite to Browning and his friends and family.

“Well first of all, it is not my box. I did not buy that in the preseason — it’s very expensive,” Browning said. “So, Joe Burrow was nice enough to give them some tickets so they didn’t have to sit up in the cold. We’re all from California, so I’m used to it, they’re not. I’m sure they were much more excited in the box. It’s awesome to have them here. I think it was two friends from back home, my girlfriend, and then my brother, my sister and my sister’s boyfriend. It’s always nice to have people there, and it’s mostly nice after you win to go grab dinner or something somewhere.”

Browning is being rewarded inside Paycor because he’s proven he can lead and deliver. It’s really that simple.

Browning has really gotten to know Joe Mixon. And Mixon’s re-emergence in the run game (his average is up a full yard per carry in the last two weeks) has bolstered Browning.

“It’s a great feeling. The vibes are up over here,” Mixon said. “Everybody’s doing whatever they can to contribute to the team and I feel like everybody’s playing complementary football, taking care of the football, getting takeaways and doing all the right things. We’ve just got to keep it up.”

Mixon, who caught Burrow’s last pass of the season, has witnessed the team slump through Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The team was 5-6 and reeling badly. Through all the negativity and doubts on the outside, Mixon has done what has been asked of him without complaining. He even looked inspired to match rookie Chase Brown’s 54-yard screen pass touchdown when he took a pass from Browning in the second quarter, broke tackles and rambled 45 yards, setting up his 1-yard TD run in the second quarter.

“I think he’s stepping in and doing his thing,” Mixon said of Brown. “He’s bringing a spark and I feel he’s doing a great job, especially as a rookie. He’s learned the playbook. He’s doing all the right things right and (we’ve) just got to keep it up. We’re feeding off each other, so once you make one play, that leads to another. Everybody’s going to need it.

“It’s all about will and want to,” Mixon added. “Will and want to and everybody doing the right things — linemen making the big blogs, running backs doing whatever we can to make the right cuts and get positive yardage, and we’ve just been keeping our foot on the gas.”

On that run, Higgins had a big block downfield to help spring Mixon.

“We’re going to keep playing Bengals football and keep being us,” Higgins said.

It’s of course not just the offense but the defense led by Trey Hendrickson that is starting to show its form from the last two seasons. With Hendrickson getting to the quarterback, plays like the game-clinching interception by B.J. Hill start to happen more often.

Yes, Hendrickson had a massive brain freeze when he took a bad roughing the passer penalty in the second quarter that led to Indianapolis’ only offensive touchdown of the day. But his productive plays far outweighed anything negative on Sunday.

“We can’t have it,” Zac Taylor told me. “Trey knows that. He’s the first one to own up to it. It is what it is, we move on from it. We’ve done a great job keeping penalties not being a part of what we do. It was just a learning moment for everyone and we will respond the right way.”

“He’s a force out there. You have to pay attention to him at all times. Even when he’s not hitting the quarterback and making plays, they feel him and have to devote resources to him. It allows our other guys to step up. Trey did a great job today, our defense as a whole. They rushed for less than 50 yards and (we) had three sacks. That’s a great defensive effort overall with the coverage, the rush, and tackling.”

The Bengals swagger has returned. With Minnesota up next on Saturday followed by Pittsburgh on the road, the Bengals can smell another hot streak. Just stay hydrated, and the sky’s the limit.