LOVELAND MAGAZINE

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Tag: Joe Burrow

  • Joe Burrow is Back!

    Joe Burrow is Back!

    Bengals Fans Collectively Rejoice As Their Franchise Quarterback Returns.

    by Chris Ball

    The Cincinnati Bengals will only go as far as Joe Burrow will take them, it’s an immutable fact, the same as the sky being blue and water being wet. This was why the entire city was likely cheering at home to see their franchise quarterback return from a torn scapholunate ligament on his throwing hand on November 16 of last year against the Ravens, which required surgery.

    Before that, Burrow had been hampered by a calf injury that severely impaired his movement and his ability to plant and throw the football. But when he got healthy he won four of his last five starts before eventually suffering his season ending hand injury against Baltimore. He finished the 2023 season with 15 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 66.8 completion percentage across the 10 games that he played in. During those contests where he was healthy, such as against San Francisco, Buffalo, and Houston he threw for a combined 978 yards, 7 touchdowns and just two interceptions.

    After the injury, though Jake Browning went on a heroic run, and deserves a significant amount of credit for his leadership and tenacity, the Bengals ultimately fell short of making the 2023 playoffs by a very narrow margin. However, having a backup like Browning on the roster is absolutely critical to the team’s ability to contend, given the nature of the league and the ferocity that modern defenses can unleash.

    The 2024 Bengals added significant pieces at positions of real need. This included the signing of Trent Brown and bringing in Zack Moss at running back, ending the Joe Mixon era in Cincinnati. They also signed Mike Gesicki, a solid pass-catching tight end that hopefully plastered over a glaring hole at the position that Bengals’ fans have been clamoring to be addressed for months.

    The team has stood tough and dealt with trade requests from disgruntled but important plyers Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson, doing all they can to ensure that both will be on the roster next year to help this team, even if it is for only one more year. Their draft strategy was a successful one, taking Amarius Mims to solidify the future at right tackle, Kris Jenkins to fill gaps at the interior defensive line, and Jermaine Burton to add the potential of an explosive playmaker at receiver given the departure of Tyler Boyd (and likely Higgins after next year).

    The front office has been busy ensuring that when Joe Burrow is completely healthy, he has the potential for a very solid team around him in terms of protection and offensive firepower. Losing a franchise quarterback as young as Burrow to two season-ending injuries has made Bengals fans understandably wary of getting their hopes too high, but its easy to forget all the pain and heartbreak seeing him take the field again and sling the pigskin, even if it is just an offseason workout.

    Bengals fans certainly hope that 2024 is a positive step forward for a team that was in the Super Bowl just two short years ago. Joe Burrow’s hand injury honestly appears, from the film, to be a non-issue, but it is easy to expect his health to be a major question each week this upcoming season. Orlando Brown, Jr., Trent Brown, as titanic men, can certainly address those concerns, along with their fellow linemen, but there is no question that the Bengals’ most valuable commodity (perhaps ever) cannot be allowed to be roughed up as much as he has been in his young career.

    But for now, it’s enough to just sit back, watch Number 9 take the field in the orange and black, and imagine how glorious it will be to take it all in come that first game in the fall.

    Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.

  • The Bengals Address Key Needs In the 2024 Draft

    The Bengals Address Key Needs In the 2024 Draft

    Amarius Mims photo via Cincinnati Bengals on FaceBook

    by Chris Ball

    Loveland, Ohio – The 2024 Bengals have a clear set of goals entering the upcoming season: keep Joe Burrow upright and keep him healthy. That starts at one key position group: the offensive line. That group has come under intense scrutiny ever since the team took Burrow at the number one pick overall in the 2020 draft. The rate at which he has been sacked has been well documented. In 2021 it was a league high 51 times, and by 2023 he had been sacked the second-most times among all NFL quarterbacks since he entered the league. Burrow’s hits and his injuries are well-known factors league wide, as are the Bengals’ efforts to mitigate that damage and keep their franchise pillar on the field.

    While they have done well bringing in linemen in free agency, signing the likes of Alex Cappa and Ted Karras, it has been a very different story drafting and developing in the trenches. Whether it be Jonah Williams, Cedric Ogbuehi, or (dare we say it), Billy Price, the Bengals have yet to turn their top draft picks along the line into genuine stars that can show they can protect the most important position and player on the field on a consistent basis.

    Amarius Mims photo via Georgia Dogs Roster

    Bengals fans all hope that trend is coming to a close with the pick of Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims. He is an absolute titan of a man, at 6 foot 8 inches and 340 pounds such that it is hard to imagine a freight train being able to get past him. Never mind that he has less than 11% body fat and ran 5.07 in the 40-yard dash, there is simply no question that the physical traits and raw skill are unquestionable when it comes to Mims.

    Those traits and his potential were never in question, but there are some concerns that may prevent him from becoming the Bengals’ right tackle of the future. This issues namely come from his lack of consistent starting experience. He was able to start just eight games over three years at Georgia, and was out for six games last year with an ankle injury. While the injury itself isn’t necessarily one that is thought to impact his career long-term, any malady is magnified a hundredfold when the subject is a first round pick of the impact of a player like Mims. The lack of consistent starting and playing at Georgia means that it will be up to the Bengals staff, namely Frank Pollack, their offensive line coach, to transition Mims into the physically and mentally demanding world that is the National Football League.

    The signing of Trent Brown will undoubtedly help this transition, both from mentorship and timing angles. However, Brown has his own injury issues, as do the Bengals as a team, and there is therefore a significant possibility that Amarius Mims will see significant snaps in 2024. He has all the talent in the world to step in and contribute, it is now on the Bengals and their staff to make sure he is ready to be the tackle all Bengals fans hope he could be.

    As Bengals fans are learning, there simply isn’t enough money to go around when it comes to retaining players we all know and love. This was the case with D.J. Reader who signed a two-year deal with the Lions this past offseason. Reader was a leader and his run-stopping ability could not be denied. Run defense was an area where the team struggled overall last year (they were 26th in the league, allowing 126 yards per game) and losing Reader signaled that problem might only get worse in 2024 and beyond.

    Enter Kris Jenkins. The Bengals selected the Michigan defensive tackle and 2023 National Champion with the 49th pick in the second round of the NFL draft. According to PFF his run-stop percentage ranks in the 99th percentile and it’s hard to imagine a better fit for the Bengals’ needs in round 2 of the draft. When he’s paired with newly-signed Sheldon Rankins, who has a 71.5 pass rush grade and a 10.2 percent pass rush win rate (all very respectable numbers), that tandem could be very dangerous in the years to come, as they complement each other extremely well.

    The Bengals had significant holes to fill coming into 2024, but their first two picks appear well-positioned to address those needs and exceed expectations in the coming seasons. A smart and focused draft now could mean exceptional success during Joe Burrow’s prime years.

    Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.

  • What Does The Future Hold For Tee Higgins?

    What Does The Future Hold For Tee Higgins?

    by Chris Ball

    Loveland, Ohio – Injuries derailed so much of the promise last season for the Bengals. While the most crucial was to Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins also missed five games due to various injuries and was limited to just 42 receptions, the lowest total of his career. It was very bad timing in a contract year for a player who surely wanted to show the Bengals and the league that he was deserving of a big payday.

    That leaves Higgins and the Bengals in a very unique position this offseason. The team has $53.2 million in cap space which is good for sixth-most in the NFL. There is money to spend , but also plenty of needs to fill including an impending mega-extension for Ja’Marr Chase.

    This is why many Bengals pundits believe that the Franchise Tag is the most likely option with respect to Higgins’ contract status going forward. Briefly, the Franchise Tag a would allow the Bengals to retain Higgins at a salary that reflects the average of the top five players at his position or 120% of his previous salary – whichever figure is higher. There are two types of “tags” the exclusive tag, which would prevent Tee from negotiating with any other team and would fully guarantee his salary.

    The other is the non-exclusive tag which allows players to negotiate with other teams even if they are tagged. If Tee reaches a deal with another team, the Bengals would retain the right to match the deal if they wish. If they choose not to match and Tee signs somewhere else the Bengals would receive a pair of first-round picks as compensation for losing him.

    The average salary of the top five wide receivers would mean that if the Franchise Tag is applied to Tee his potential contract would be for one year at $20.7 million. Bengals fans may recall that this was the track taken by the team with respect to Jessie Bates who played out his year on the Franchise Tag before signing with the Atlanta Falcons last year. It wasn’t a very pretty process as Bates skipped all offseason workouts and much of training camp before finally signing his contract for the year. And just as with Higgins, there were logistical issues in offering Bates a lucrative long-term deal given the need for yet another gargantuan contract the following year for an irreplaceable star player: Joe Burrow.

    It seems unlikely that the Bengals and Higgins will reach an agreement on any sort of extension, though it is a possibility. That leaves the Franchise Tag as the most viable option. The Bengals must tag Higgins by March 5 but the two sides can still negotiate for a longer deal. If they can’t agree by July 15 then (if put in place) the tag becomes official and Tee would be playing on the one-year contract.

    That isn’t necessarily the end of the story, however. There is a question as to whether Tee Higgins would play under the tag. Though it’s rare, players have threatened to sit out an entire season rather than play under the cloud of a one-year contract. While it’s too early to predict what Higgins’ reaction might be, contract talks and the millions of dollars at issue rarely lead to simple or clean solutions.

    The Bengals could apply the tag to Higgins and then trade him to another team that could then work out a longer contract, which is commonly referred to as a “tag and trade.” However, the Bengals are not known for even normal trades much less trades of players playing under the Franchise Tag.

    If Tee Higgins is back for another year, no matter how that’s accomplished, it will undoubtedly be a good thing for this team. Yes, he was injured last year and had some issues with drops, but he showed that he still can be a dynamic and impactful wide receiver. You have no further to look than his 80-yard touchdown against the Steelers to see that when healthy he is a top tier wide receiver.

    Tyler Boyd is gone, Charlie Jones and Andrei Iosivas are young and developing. The Bengals have no consistent threats at tight end. A healthy and productive Tee Higgins punishes teams for double teaming Ja’Marr Chase and frees him up to run deeper routes. Higgins is athletic for his size and strong enough to out muscle most corners in the NFL.

    Even if it is for one year at 20 million, getting Tee Higgins on the field for this team in 2024 is an absolute priority. The window for the Bengals to win and make deep playoff runs will not stay open forever, especially as superstars like Chase (rightfully) will be paid vast sums of money, shrinking the pie for other players on this team.

    While that window is open, the Bengals must do whatever is necessary to put the best players on the field. Players like Tee Higgins.

    Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.

  • No Storybook Ending As Bengals Come Up Short , 23-20, In Super Bowl LVI

    No Storybook Ending As Bengals Come Up Short , 23-20, In Super Bowl LVI

    Hobson_Geoff

    Geoff Hobson

    Bengals.com Senior Writer

    INGLEWOOD, Calif. – In the Hollywood foothills Sunday, the Bengals took an improbable story that would have been rejected by any scriptwriter in town, but couldn’t produce their first ever Lombardi Trophy in heartbreaking 23-20 loss to the Rams on the steamy sound stage of Super Bowl LVI.

    The Bengals were creeping to rookie kicker Evan McPherson’s field goal range with 40 seconds left at midfield on fourth-and-one, but the Rams future Hall-of-Fame defensive tackle Aaron Donald made the signature play when he nearly sacked quarterback Joe Burrow and made him get rid of a desperate throw that had no shot. The play defined how the L.A. pass rush took over the game with a Super Bowl-record tying seven sacks.

    The Bengals defense that had supplied so much magic at the end of games in this postseason, couldn’t conjure up any more. It incurred three penalties in 10 seconds inside the 10 inside two minutes.

    It set up Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford’s rolling one-yard flip to wide receiver Cooper Kupp with 85 seconds left to give them the margin of victory. It was Kupp’s second touchdown of the game and gave him 92 yards and the Super Bowl MVP trophy against a stubborn defense that deserved a better fate.

    With 1:47 left from the 8, linebacker Logan Wilson was called for a hold on Kupp. Then a TD was wiped away by offsetting penalties, a Rams’ hold and roughing on Bengals safety Vonn Bell. Again on Kupp. Then cornerback Eli Apple was called for holding Kupp and that put the ball on the Bengals 1.

    The Rams pass rush, docile in the first half with just one sack in the last minute, erupted in the second half and their record-tying seventh sack was particularly vicious early in the fourth quarter and sent Burrow limping to the sidelines grabbing his right knee. Rams edger Von Miller and outside linebacker Leonard Floyd broke him in half and twisted on a third-down play that sickened Who Dey Nation. When right tackle Isaiah Prince belted Floyd for the shot on Burrow, it was Prince who got flagged.

    But as Burrow waved off trainers and doctors the heroic Bengals defense pitched another stop and Burrow came back on. He finished a very brave 22 of 33 for 263 yards and a 100 passer rating.

    The Bengals offense just never did find any consistency Sunday. From his own 40 and the clock ticking under seven minutes, Burrow took a shot at slot receiver Tyler Boyd on a third-down slant and Boyd suffered his first drop since the third game of the year and that set up the winning 15-play drive.

    After a lethargic 155-yard first half that put them in a 13-10 hole, the Bengals stepped up as the third quarter team they’ve all year long in a wild opening to the second half. It only took one snap. Burrow stepped up in the pocket and whipped a long one to Tee Higgins (100 -yard night) battling Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey on the left sideline. Ramsey fell down as Higgins outmuscled him and he was off on a 75-yard touchdown play that put them in front 17-13 on the longest postseason pass in Bengals history.

    Then on the next snap, cornerback Chidobe Awuzie came up with their eighth interception of the postseason when quarterback c’s pass tipped off the hands of wide receiver Ben Skowronek and in a span off 22 seconds the Bengals had a chance to put in the dagger as the momentum swung visibly to the orange-and-black-clad fans.

    But in no particular order, Donald awoke from a first half stupor he didn’t appear on the stat sheet and chased Burrow out of bounds for his first of two sacks of the night. But when he pushed Burrow to the ground as he was going out of bounds, the bench objected and the offensive line got in Donald’s face.

    There were no flags, but fireworks when a fan ran on to the field. Then on third-and-three from the Rams 11, Donald got Burrow again for a sack and as Burrow hopped up he appeared irked one of his receivers broke the wrong way.

    c kicked the 38-yard field goal to give them a 20-13 lead, but the sense was the Rams defense had turned the tide just as quickly.

    The Rams got a Matt Gay field goal to cut it to 20-16, but the Bengals couldn’t answer. Burrow had wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase wide open on third down, but Burrow one-hopped it.

    Then on the next series, the Rams rattled off back-to-back sacks. Von Miller, who also had been dormant in the first half, worked a stunt on the right side and came roaring inside to dump him for a 10-yard loss near his goal line.

    As the defense had done all postseason it kept them in it as the game veered into the fourth with the Bengals holding an eerie 20-16 lead, the lead they lost in with 34 seconds left in their last Super Bowl 33 years ago.

    The Bengals made the Rams punt three times in a row as their front play just as dominant as the Rams did. Nose tackle D.J. Reader ended one drive on a sack. Edge Sam Hubbard dropped running back Cam Akers for a two-yard loss to end another. Then Wilson and cornerback Mike Hilton combined for a tackle to stop another drive. The Bengals were immense in the run game, holding the Rams to 43 yards on 23 carries.

    The first half didn’t go the way the Bengals drew up it, but they had to feel fortunate that by the time Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg took the halftime stage at SoFi Stadium, they only trailed the Rams, 13-10, and were getting the ball to start the second half.javascript:falseJoe Mixon lofts back-corner trick-play TD pass to Tee Higgins

    When running back Joe Mixon throws your only touchdown pass of the half for his first career touchdown pass in the biggest game of all, you know your offense isn’t operating high octane. Burrow couldn’t get in a groove as the Bengals managed just 155 yards in a half they really only put together one good drive.

    At that point the Bengals had done a nice job controlling Donald. Neither he or Miller was on the halftime stat sheet.

    Burrow was 12 of 18 for just 114 yards while Mixon ripped off 40 yards on seven carries but they couldn’t string anything together. Still, down 13-3, Burrow put together a nice 12-play touchdown drive hitting all of thee of his receivers and a nice swing pass to Chase for a four-yard rush on third-and-two in the red zone.

    Then Mixon became the first non-quarterback in four Super Bowls to throw a touchdown (Eagles tight end Trey Burton courtesy of the Philly Special) when he took a pitch wide, ran, then straightened and lofted a ball over safety Nick Scott when he came up on the run and Higgins had a six-yard touchdown catch. Higgins had three catches for 25 yard in the half that included a nifty 14-yard YAC.

    Their only penalty of the half hurt them. It came after free safety Jessie Bates III made an end zone interception on a third-and-long, but Vernon Hargreaves III, who was inactive, came off the bench to celebrate. It left Burrow with the ball at the 10 instead of the 20 with three timeouts at the two-minute warning.

    In all three playoff games the Bengals had scored in the final two minutes of the half. But they couldn’t get anything going. On one snap, Miller and Donald chased him into an incompletion and the the first sack the Rams got was a coverage sack for Floyd with about a minute left in the half.

    The Rams got the ball in good field position, but on third-and-one Lions quarterback Matt Stafford took a deep shot to wide receiver Van Jefferson and Awuzie was draped all over him. Stafford played OK, but not good enough to become the 32nd quarterback to be Super Bowl MVP. He had three touchdowns and he survived Odell Beckham Jr.’s devastating knee injury in the second quarter. But he also threw two picks and completed just 26 of 40 passes for 283 yards.

    The lethargic Bengals offense got a spark from, who else? Burrow to Chase. Chase got by Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey, something you don’t usually see, and Chase responded with a catch you don’t usually see, a diving one-handed catch for a 46-yard play.

    After the big play, the Bengals were snugly in the red zone at the Rams. But Burrow threw three straight incompletions and McPherson went 13-for-13 on a 29-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.

    The passing game just didn’t click all day. Miller leaped over left tackle Jonah Williams to knock down the first down pass. On second down, Burrow went to Mixon in the flat, but there was nothing there. And on third down, with Ramsey on Higgins and not getting much room. The ball was a tad behind Higgins and broken up.

    Bengals edge Trey Hendrickson blew up the first series of the game with a sack when Rams running back Cam Akers knocked left tackle Andrew Whitworth off the block on second down and on third down tackle B.J. Hill hauled down Akers for nothing to complete a dominant first defensive series. It was a harbinger of the defense’s effort the rest of the way, but the offense couldn’t get to the magic 24 points.

    It seems like for the first time this postseason the Bengals didn’t play complementary ball on the Super Bowl’s opening sequence. The offense faltered despite terrific field position at their own 42. But head coach Zac Taylor opted to go for it on fourth-and-one at midfield, they didn’t get it and the Rams cashed for the game’s first touchdown.

    The Bengals couldn’t get three yards on three snaps after Burrow hit Boyd slanting underneath for seven yards on first down. On second down Mixon barely got two up the middle and backup running back Samaje Perine got nothing in the same place on third down. Then on fourth-and one, Burrow spread them out and it looked like he had Higgins open on the right sideline, but he went back to the middle where Chase was bracketed and the ball was defended by inside linebacker Ernest Jones.

  • Ohio Vs. Hollywood: The State Of Mind For Bengals And Burrow In Super Bowl LVI

    Ohio Vs. Hollywood: The State Of Mind For Bengals And Burrow In Super Bowl LVI

    Hobson_Geoff

    Geoff Hobson

    Bengals.com Senior Writer

    LOS ANGELES – Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, bidding to become the second quarterback in history to win a Super Bowl for a state where he was either born or went to high school, famously dissed the underdog thing in the team meeting the night before they beat the Titans in the Divisional game.

    But it sounds like he may have found a new theme as the fourth-seeded Bengals look to turn the last six Burrow starts into an NFL title Sunday against the Rams at SoFi Stadium.

    “Ohio,” may not mean underdog. In this game, it just may mean style and attitude. Whatever it may be, the home state of Burrow and his Bengals certainly provides a neat foil for the Hollywood-based Rams stacked with stars playing a Super Bowl in their own building built more like an MGM sound stage than a stadium.

    There is not only Hall-of-Fame pass rushers Aaron Donald and Von Miller, but Jalen Ramsey, the guy the Bengals believe is the best cornerback in the game, and Cooper Kupp, the guy the numbers say is the best wide receiver in the game.

    Could be Ohio vs. Hollywood. Throw in Bengals free safety Jessie Bates III from Fort Wayne and it’s Ohio-Indiana vs. Hollywood. Throw in the Collinsworth guys from Northern Kentucky being part of the NBC broadcast and maybe this is Ohio-Indiana-Kentucky vs. Hollywood.

    “I like the title,” said Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton after Friday’s brisk 40-minute final tuneup. “Knowing that they’re the flashy guys and we’re the blue-collar guys, were getting the best of both worlds with the Super Bowl on the line. They’re real flashy for the camera. We’re blue collar, get it out of the mud. They’re a great team. We’re just different.”

    Hilton is the personification of the muddy Bengals, a team that has won their last two games at the gun and the third at their two-yard line. The team that lost their first 13 straight one-score games under head coach Zac Taylor won three straight of those to get here.

    Hilton got here the hard way, too. Undrafted and spurned by the Steelers despite four solid seasons, he brought his steel-trap tackling and single-minded passion to a defense trying to find its way and it turned out to be a perfect match. In the postseason he’s been all over the yard with four pass deflections, including the acrobatic steal of Ryan Tannehill in the red zone that saved the Tennessee game.

    “They all had it,” Hilton said of his team’s penchant or dirty work. “They just needed somebody to pull it out of everybody.”

    Hilton is going to have to have to have a vintage Hilton game in the muck of the slot Sunday. The Rams love to motion and run bunch formations and Hilton is going to have to come down hill in the middle of the field. He knows that’s how Burrow runs the offense.

    A defensive player at quarterback.

    “The way he carries himself and the way he’s not afraid of contact,” Hilton said. “He’s a tough dude. I’m happy he’s my quarterback.”

    Hilton’s quarterback handled his final pregame media duties Friday befitting the tone of the game. The throng of cameras and reporters wanted him to go GQ Joe with questions about his dress, hair and even the one sock he always puts inside out.

    But like he has all week, he has stuck to Midwest Joe. Athens Joe. Ohio Joe.

    They even asked him if he’d like to live out here and he gave them the Buckeye Chamber of Commerce answer.

    “No,” he said. “I like four seasons.”

    If the sock fits.

    Burrow has proudly this week carried the Ohio banner as the Bengals try to bring home the first Super Bowl to the state and the first NFL title in nearly 60 years. They were the easy answers.

    “Being from Ohio, I can relate to the entire fan base. I think that’s something rare,” Burrow said. “There’s not a lot of NFL players that get to play for a team in their home state. I think they can relate to me and I can relate to them.”

    That’s because their quarterback has been grinding like them. Just as Bengals fans persevered 31 years for that playoff win, Burrow still grimly carries Athens’ last-minute loss in the 2014 Division III state title game as his childhood friends nearly brought back the ultimate prize for an impoverished region.

    Just as Bengals fans’ limped with the knee of Ickey Woods and Ki-Jana Carter and Carson Palmer, Burrow gutted out the same terrifying ACL injury with a Comeback Player of the Year that put his team in the Super Bowl.

    “They all had it,” Hilton said of his team’s penchant or dirty work. “They just needed somebody to pull it out of everybody.”

    Hilton is going to have to have to have a vintage Hilton game in the muck of the slot Sunday. The Rams love to motion and run bunch formations and Hilton is going to have to come down hill in the middle of the field. He knows that’s how Burrow runs the offense.

    A defensive player at quarterback.

    “The way he carries himself and the way he’s not afraid of contact,” Hilton said. “He’s a tough dude. I’m happy he’s my quarterback.”

    Hilton’s quarterback handled his final pregame media duties Friday befitting the tone of the game. The throng of cameras and reporters wanted him to go GQ Joe with questions about his dress, hair and even the one sock he always puts inside out.

    But like he has all week, he has stuck to Midwest Joe. Athens Joe. Ohio Joe.

    They even asked him if he’d like to live out here and he gave them the Buckeye Chamber of Commerce answer.

    “No,” he said. “I like four seasons.”

    If the sock fits.

    Burrow has proudly this week carried the Ohio banner as the Bengals try to bring home the first Super Bowl to the state and the first NFL title in nearly 60 years. They were the easy answers.

    “Being from Ohio, I can relate to the entire fan base. I think that’s something rare,” Burrow said. “There’s not a lot of NFL players that get to play for a team in their home state. I think they can relate to me and I can relate to them.”

    That’s because their quarterback has been grinding like them. Just as Bengals fans persevered 31 years for that playoff win, Burrow still grimly carries Athens’ last-minute loss in the 2014 Division III state title game as his childhood friends nearly brought back the ultimate prize for an impoverished region.

    Just as Bengals fans’ limped with the knee of Ickey Woods and Ki-Jana Carter and Carson Palmer, Burrow gutted out the same terrifying ACL injury with a Comeback Player of the Year that put his team in the Super Bowl.

    While Burrow worked on his knee, head coach Zac Taylor worked on hauling his program out of a 6-25-1 hole. Burrow wasn’t the only guy grinding. Even Taylor has said this week, the miserable close losses and 15-game winless road streak made them better.

    “We knew what we had in Zac as a head coach,” Burrow said. “Going into this year we knew we were going to have to win. We wanted to go out and win for Zac because he works really hard to put us in position to be successful. He’s a great head coach. As a player you feel like you can go talk to him if you have a gripe with something we did that day. Maybe he takes it into account. Maybe he doesn’t. But he’s definitely going to listen to you.”

    Hilton was asked if Burrow played defense, what position would he play.

    “I like Joe at safety,” Hilton said. “He’s got some range back there and, of course, he’d be able to set the defense and communicate.”

    That’s the setup. Ohio vs. Hollywood as another grind begins.

  • Cris Collinsworth Welcomes The “Their Time,” Bengals To The Super Bowl 40 Years Later

    Cris Collinsworth Welcomes The “Their Time,” Bengals To The Super Bowl 40 Years Later

    Jim Breech and Cris Collinsworth (80) are watching all their postseason records disappear.

    Hobson_Geoff

    Geoff Hobson

    Bengals.com Senior Writer

    LOS ANGELES – If it seems like Al Michaels has called everything but a presidential election, it’s because he has.

    Michaels, NBC’s Miracle Man who is calling his record-tying 11th Super Bowl Sunday, puts another benediction on a team Thursday as he watches the Bengals practice at UCLA.

    “I think America has been captivated by this team,” Michaels says. “Come back down 18 to Kansas City on the road. And everybody said, ‘Whoa.’”

    Michaels could look across Bengals head coach Zac Taylor’s toughest practice of the week and see Pauley Pavilion, the gym where he called John Wooden’s last two seasons and 10th national championship. He also called some of the first great moments of the Big Red Machine and sees Sunday as a nice bookend to his days on the Ohio River that included a World Series.

    But Michaels couldn’t call it when he sat down with Bengals rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase earlier Thursday and asked him who had the Bengals rookie postseason receiving record.

    Chase said he didn’t know and Michaels pointed at his partner and said, “Him.”

    “One of the great blank looks,” Cris Collinsworth says. “That’s the way it should be. This is their time.”

    Collinsworth, who has almost as many Emmys (16) analyzing the NFL as Chase has postseason catches (20), says Chase is the best receiver in Bengals history even though he’s built more like a running back.

    “That’s why,” Collinsworth says. “I think he’s a phenomenal athlete who just happens to play wide receiver. He plays the position like Gale Sayers would play it. You’ll probably have to tell him who Gale Sayers is.”

    While we’re at it, on the 40th anniversary of the Bengals’ first Super Bowl team, isn’t Joe Burrow playing quarterback like Collinsworth played that year? A rookie taking shot after shot and getting up and setting record after record on the way to the Super Bowl. And so cool while doing it. Collinsworth had ’80s aw-shucks swag. Burrow has 2020s social media swag.

    “There never has been anybody cooler than this kid,” Collinsworth says. “That’s impossible.”

    What’s not impossible is that Burrow has made an All-Pro team. You just have to go to Collinsworth’s Pro Football Focus web site to find it. It’s the Pro Bowl team he put together. Burrow is his quarterback.

    “He deserved it,” Collinsworth says.

    Shelve the PFF grades for a sec. Collinsworth can get a little nostalgic.

    “I’m like everyone else. If you can’t have fun watching these guys play football …” Collinsworth says. “They’ve got a certain energy. What’s the big deal? When I came in, I didn’t know. We were the top seed. We won the first two games at home and went to the Super Bowl. I did it in my first year. Doesn’t everybody? I get the same kind of feel with this bunch. ‘OK, we’ve won a couple of games and we’re at the Super Bowl at UCLA. We beat them in school, too, so we’ll keep winning.’ I mean, that’s just how it seems. They’re young and they’re just playing.”

    That’s why Collinsworth thinks these Bengals have repeated history and taken Cincinnati by storm. No one was expecting it.

  • Super PBS Crowd Rallies Bengals For L.A. Trip

    Super PBS Crowd Rallies Bengals For L.A. Trip

    Bengaldom in full throttle Monday night.

    Hobson_Geoff

    Geoff Hobson

    Bengals.com Senior Writer

    If Joe Burrow is the soul of the Bengals then here came the heart of the Bengals Monday night as Joe Mixon headed into the Paul Brown Stadium locker room filming the fans chanting “Who Dey” through their 28-degree breath.

    “A great sendoff,” Mixon said as the fireworks ending a roaring Super Bowl pep rally smoked like one of his Drew Estate victory cigars. “I’ve never seen anything like that before or experienced anything like that in my life. I thank them for my teammates. I love them, too. It was a huge moment, a historic moment and we’re looking to have many more.”

    The Bengals took the field in their Super Bowl LVI white sweat suits as an estimated crowd of about 30,000 offered a thunderous sendoff to Tuesday morning’s flight to Los Angeles and Sunday’s appointment with the Rams to decide the NFL championship.

    Go HERE to see the full photo gallery of the event.

    They serenaded Burrow with an “MVP, MVP,” chant. They went nuts when tight end C.J. Uzomah ripped off his brace from the knee he injured in Kansas City. They screamed when hometown punter Kevin Huber told them, “Hopefully we’ll be back next week for the after party.”

    “I’ve got goose bumps,” said Jim Foster, better known as Bengal Jim, who MCed the hour-long production with comedian Gary Owen. “And the great thing is that for about a half or two-thirds of them, they’ve never experienced something like this before. They weren’t here or weren’t old enough for ’88. I’m so happy for this city. And another great thing about it is how many kids were there.”

    Heck, the players on the first two Super Bowl teams had never experienced anything like it. Max Montoya, the right guard on both teams, Ken Anderson, who quarterbacked the first one and safety David Fulcher, who helped lead them to the second one, found themselves in a holding room as guests of the club for the rally and couldn’t remember anything like this back in the day.

  • Game Preview: Cincinnati Bengals at Kansas City Chiefs, AFC Championship, Sunday, January 30, 2022

    Game Preview: Cincinnati Bengals at Kansas City Chiefs, AFC Championship, Sunday, January 30, 2022

    Photo by Cincinnati Bengals

    by Bengals.com

    Kickoff: 3 p.m. Eastern. Television: The game will air nationally on CBS-TV. In the Bengals’ home region, it will be carried by WKRC-TV (Ch. 12) in Cincinnati, WHIO-TV (Ch. 7) in Dayton and on WKYT-TV (Ch. 27) in Lexington. Broadcasters are play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and analyst Tony Romo, with sideline reporters Tracy Wolfson, Evan Washburn and Jay Feely. 

    Radio: The game will air on the Bengals Radio Network, led by Cincinnati flagship stations WLW-AM (700), WCKY-AM (ESPN 1530; all sports) and WEBN-FM (102.7). Broadcasters are Dan Hoard (play-by-play) and Dave Lapham (analyst). 

    The game also will air nationally on Westwood One Radio. Broadcasters are Ian Eagle (play-by-play), Tony Boselli (analyst) and Ross Tucker (sideline reporter). 

    Setting the scene: The Bengals on Sunday travel to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the two-time defending AFC-champion Kansas City Chiefs, in what will be Cincinnati’s third-ever appearance in an AFC Championship Game. Cincinnati won both of its previous AFC Championship appearances — vs. San Diego in the 1981 season, and vs. Buffalo in the 1988 season. 

    The Bengals earned their spot in the NFL’s final four in thrilling fashion on Saturday, when rookie K Evan McPherson nailed a 52-yard FG as time expired in the Divisional Playoff to give Cincinnati a 19-16 win over top-seeded Tennessee. 

    “It feels great,” said Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. “This is the expectation for these guys — it’s not too big for them. 

    “I know we haven’t been here before, but it sure feels like we have. You see the attitude of the team and the confidence that they have, that we’re going to find a way to win. You just can’t replace the confidence that these guys have earned in themselves.” 

    The contest began in what turned out to be fitting fashion — with a key defensive play that swung the game’s momentum. On the very first play from scrimmage, Titans QB Ryan Tannehill faked a handoff to star RB Derrick Henry, who was playing for the first time since Halloween (foot injury), and then fired a pass over the middle that was intercepted by Bengals S Jessie Bates. 

    “They were in a ‘pass-alert’ formation that we talked about all week,” Bates said. “Honestly, Tannehill just stared it down, and I knew exactly what was going on. We talked about coming out fast with a sense of urgency, and it couldn’t have worked out any better.

    The Bengals took over possession at the Titans’ 42-yard line, however the offense managed just a FG. Cincinnati went on to add two more FGs in a first half dominated by defense, and took a 9-6 lead into the locker room. 

    The Bengals received the opening kickoff of the second half and quickly jumped ahead 16-6, thanks to a nine-play, 65-yard drive that HB Joe Mixon capped with a 16-yard TD run. The Bengals have now come away with points on their first offensive drive of the second half in 14 of 19 games this season (six TDs, eight FGs). During the regular season, Cincinnati’s 56 combined points on the first possession of the second half were second-most in the NFL.

    “We called ‘stretch right,’ and all of a sudden the linebackers and safety were flowing hard over the top,” Mixon said. “I put my toe in the ground, then I put my toe in the ground again, and I just (saw) the backside was like open like the Red Sea. I was fortunate enough to find daylight, and everything worked out.”

    On the ensuing possession, Tennessee turned to its fifth-ranked rushing attack and marched 66 yards on just four runs to reach Cincinnati’s nine-yard line. But on the fifth play of the drive, Bengals nickel CB Mike Hilton batted a screen pass from Tannehill into the air and came down with an INT. 

    “We had a lot of jokes about Mike getting caught after that pick,” Bates said with a laugh. Hilton returned the INT 19 yards before being caught by Tannehill. 

    “We were trying to line up the order of who had the worst returns this year, and I think Mike’s pretty much at the top of that list right now (laughs). But he made a hell of a play. You jump in the air and you track the ball — I think he was almost maxed out at that point, so we can’t complain too much about that.” 

    After a Bengals punt, the Titans again marched downfield but mustered only a 34-yard FG that cut the margin to seven points. On the ensuing possession, a pass from QB Joe Burrow bounced off the hands of HB Samaje Perine and into the grasp of Titans S Amani Hooker. The INT was Burrow’s first since Week 13 against the L.A. Chargers, and broke a string of 209 consecutive passes (regular season plus playoffs) without a pick — the second-longest such streak in team history.

    Tennessee took over possession on Cincinnati’s 27-yard line, and two plays later Tannehill found WR A.J. Brown for a 33-yard TD that knotted the game at 16. Entering the game, Cincinnati had allowed just one third-quarter TD in its previous nine contests. It was also just the fourth TD allowed by Cincinnati’s defense in the 19 combined possessions (regular season plus playoffs) immediately following a Bengals turnover.

    After scoring a combined 17 points in the third quarter, neither team’s offense found much traction in the final period. Cincinnati’s first two possessions in the fourth quarter both were thwarted by third-down sacks of Burrow. The Titans ended the day with nine total sacks of Burrow, the most takedowns of a winning QB in NFL postseason history. 

    “He’s the toughest guy in the league,” DT D.J. Reader said of Burrow. “He’s a super tough guy, and he’s gritty. I love that about him. He doesn’t complain, he just goes out there and does his job. I really appreciate Joe.” 

    But the Bengals’ defense put together an impressive showing of its own. Henry was held to just 3.1 yards per carry on 20 attempts, and most notably was stopped for a two-yard loss by LB Logan Wilson on a fourth-and-one play mid-way through the fourth quarter. But while Bates, Hilton and Wilson made the highlight plays of the day, there was little question among players and coaches about the defense’s key component. 

    “D.J. Reader was unbelievable,” Taylor said on Sunday. “He was Superman, quite frankly. 

    “You see him make some plays during the game, but then you really dial in and watch the tape, and you can further understand the impact he had on the game. Overall, you can point out every single player on defense making some key plays in that game. But if you’re going to single out one guy for their performance, D.J. Reader is certainly deserving of that.” 

    With the score knotted at 16, Tennessee took over possession just before the two-minute warning and looked to move into range for a potential game-winning FG. But Reader yet again stopped Henry for no gain, and then Tannehill threw a five-yard completion as the Titans seemed content to drain nearly all of the remaining clock. On the next play — a third-and-five with 28 seconds remaining — Bengals CB Eli Apple tipped a pass into the air, and a leaping Wilson came down with one of the most significant INTs in team history. 

    This week’s AFC Championship features a battle between two of the NFL’s top young players in Burrow and Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes. This will be Mahomes’ fourth consecutive AFC Championship game (all at home), while Burrow last week became the first QB picked No. 1 overall to reach a conference title game within his first two seasons. 

    The game is also a rematch of a dramatic Jan. 2 meeting between the two teams, which ended in a 34-31 Bengals win at Paul Brown Stadium. That contest was also decided by a McPherson walk-off FG, and it clinched the AFC North division title for Cincinnati. But among Bengals fans, it is perhaps best remembered for Chase’s 266 receiving yards, which set both a Bengals single-game record and the NFL’s single-game rookie record. 

    “I’m tired of the underdog narrative,” Burrow said after the Titans game. “We’re a really, really good team. We’re here to make noise, and teams are going to have to pay attention to us. We’re a really good team with really good players and coaches, and we’re coming for it all.” 

    The AFC West champion Chiefs finished the regular season 12-5, and earned the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs. They opened postseason play with a 42-21 home win over Pittsburgh in the Wild Card Playoff. Then, in Sunday night’s Divisional Playoff against Buffalo, they scored a walk-off TD in overtime to win 42-36 at Arrowhead.

  • Joe Burrow Wins The PFWA 2021 Comeback Player Of The Year

    Joe Burrow Wins The PFWA 2021 Comeback Player Of The Year

    Photo by Cincinnati Bengals

    from Bengals.com

    Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who bounced back from a left knee injury suffered in 2020 to throw for a franchise-record 34 TDs and lead the Bengals to the playoffs for the first time since 2015, is the 2021 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, chosen in voting conducted by the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA).

    Burrow was on pace to break several Bengals single-season and NFL rookie passing records, along with NFL rookie passing marks before he suffered a knee injury against Washington on November 22, 2020 in his 10th game of his rookie season. He had surgery on December 2, 2020, and he embarked on a long rehab process that culminated in him taking the first snaps of Cincinnati’s 2021 training camp.

    He returned to the starting lineup and led the NFL in completion percentage (70.4 percent) and yards per attempt (8.87) and was second in passer rating (108.3) in his 16 games (all starts). He completed 366 of 520 passes for 4,611 yards (sixth in the NFL) and 34 touchdowns. On December 26, Burrow set a franchise record with 525 passing yards – the fourth-highest total in NFL history – on 37 of 46 passing and four touchdowns in a 41-21 home victory over the Baltimore Ravens. He was a 2021 PFWA All-AFC selection.

    Burrow is the second member of the Cincinnati franchise to receive Comeback Player of the Year honors (QB Jon Kitna in 2003) since the award was instituted in 1992.

    ABOUT THE PFWA

    In its 58th season in 2021, the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA) is the official voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve the public. The PFWA is made up of accredited writers who cover the NFL and the 32 teams daily. Lindsay Jones of The Athletic is the PFWA president for the 2021-22 seasons and the organization’s 30th president. Jenny Vrentas of Sports Illustrated is the PFWA’s first vice-president, Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News is the second vice-president and Mike Sando of The Athletic is the secretary-treasurer. At-large board members include USA Today’s Mike Jones, ESPN.com’s Jeff Legwold, The Athletic’s Dan Pompei and ProFootballTalk.com’s Charean Williams. Follow the PFWA at ProFootballWriters.org and on Twitter at @PFWAwriters.

  • Joey B. Goode, Money Mac Rock Music City To Put Bengals in AFC Title Game

    Joey B. Goode, Money Mac Rock Music City To Put Bengals in AFC Title Game

    Bengal rookie Evan McPherson (Bengal file photo)

    by Geoff Hobson as reported by Bengals.com

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Bengals are going to next Sunday’s AFC title game on rookie Evan McPherson’s 52-yard field goal at the gun that felled the top-seeded Titans, 19-16

    After stuffing Derrick Henry on fourth-and –one, Bengals middle linebacker Logan Wilson caught cornerback Eli Apple’s deflected pass with 20 seconds left at the Bengals 47. Joe Burrow then threw a 19-yard arrow to rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase to set it all up as Burrow finished with 348 yards and a 93.1 passer rating.

    A killing turnover turned into Burrow’s first interception since Dec. 5 and 209 straight passes. And it shouldn’t have happened. He went play action and threw a catchable ball to running back Samaje Perine and it went right off his hands. Safety Amami Hooker made a diving catch at the Bengals 27 with 1:19 left in the third quarter.

    Then the Titans took a page out of the Bengals playbook against a Cincinnati secondary that had an uncharacteristically tough night defending the long ball. On second-and-16, Tannehill threw a beauty at the right pylon to wide receiver A.J. Brown racing past cornerback Chidobe Awuzie and strong safety Vonn Bell (having a great game) and when Awuzie didn’t turn his head in time, Tannehill put it right in Brown’s stomach for a 33-yard touchdown that tied it at 16 with 15 seconds left in the third quarter.

    Burrow’s offensive line responded on the first series of the second half, when they scored another touchdown to continue a season-long trend. On third-and-one, the Bengals, who seven yards rushing in the first half, went to a quick screen to wide receiver Tee Higgins, to get it. Then on third-and-five, Burrow pulled off a quarterback draw for seven yards, complete with the first down sign.

    Then Mixon finally got some room. He went to the right, got hemmed in and then made a razor jump cut to the left and there was nobody there and he knew it as he high-stepped in from the 5. It was a 16-yard touchdown run and with 9:34 left in the third quarter they had that coveted two-score lead at 16-6 lead that everyone thought the Titans wouldn’t be able to erase.

    But they did with 10 points in the final 95 seconds of the third quarter.

    The Bengals drove to within field-goal range, but Burrow took a 16-yard loss on a sack by unblocked linebacker Harold Landry that was cleaned up by outside linebacker Bud Dupree and they had to punt.

    The Bengals defense responded again from their own 35 on fourth-and-one when Wilson dethroned The King and blew up Henry for no gain.

    But the Bengals could do nothing with it. After running back Joe Mixon false stared, the Titans ended the drive with 2:43 left on their ninth sack of the night, tackle Jeffery Simmons’ third and the 13th hit of the game on Burrow.

    The Bengals took a 9-6 halftime lead on three McPherson field goals as the Titans’ ferocious pass rush gave Burrow no room to breathe and in the first half pummeled him for five sacks.

    But the Bengals defense was even better, rumbling downhill to hold Henry to 30 yards on 10 carries and the Titans to just 129 total in ushering them off the field on four of five third downs.

    They only faltered once in the half and that was when Tannehill hit wide-open wide receiver A.J. Brown for 41 yards in the half’s lone touchdown drive. But another Bengals penalty proved to be fortuitous for them. When a too-many-men-on-the-field penalty on the extra point, nudged it closer, the Titans went for two. But little-used linebacker Clay Johnston came screaming off his left edge as they tried to bang Henry on the right side. But Johnston grabbed an ankle, rookie tackle Tyler Shelvin penetrated and strong safety Vonn Bell stood him up to keep it tied at 6.

    Burrow got sacked five times in the first quarter, but a delay of game flag and a timeout wiped out two of them. The Titans tortured them with basically four-man rushes, but they disguised them well and the Bengals had a tough time sorting out who was coming and who wasn’t. Burrow finished the half with a 102 passer rating on 17 of 24 for 178 yards.

    When they got the ball back with 6:07 left in the half, they seemed to figure it out. After Burrow converted a a rare third-and-short (the Bengals were just four of nine in the half) over the middle to tight end C.J. Uzomah, Burrow hit two big plays over the middle of the Titans zone for a total of 35 yards. Higgins, the Tennessee native, was the Bengals leading offensive player in the half with five catches for 71 yards.

    But they had the ball at the Titans 20 at the two-minute warning and went backward. Uzomah fell down on a screen to set up yet another third-and-long that was made even longer when right tackle Isaiah Prince false started. Then Burrow didn’t get rid of it and took a tough sack (his fifth of the half) snap that gave McPherson a 54-yard try in the freezing weather. He made it 9-6 with 1:30 left in the half for his third of the game and seventh field goal of the postseason, already the second most in Bengals history and two shy of Jim Breech’s club record.

    The defense again came up big, force Tannehill out of the pocket on his next three passes to force the Titans’ fourth punt.

    Free safety Jessie Bates III, who picked Tannehill last year at Paul Brown Stadium, did it here on the first play of the game. It looked like Tannehill saw nine men at the line and checked to a play-action pass and Bates was all over wide receiver Julio Jones in the middle of the field and the Bengals had it at the Tennessee 42.

    Mixon bounced off linebacker David Long Jr, to get the majority of his yards on a 21-yard check down after Burrow took a sack when he couldn’t find anyone open. McPherson delivered a 38-yarder to start the scoring courtesy of Bates.

    On the Titans’ first full series, the blitz forced a three-and-out. Strong safety Vonn Bell drilled Henry for nothing on second down and both Bell and slot cornerback Mike Hilton came on third down to sack Tannehill.

    But the Bengals couldn’t protect Burrow. On first down Burrow threw an uncharacteristically poor pass when he hurried a low throw to Uzomah. Then he got drilled for a sack with Harold Landry blowing through a hole vacated by right guard Hakeem Adeniji.

    A great first-down stop by nose tackle D.J. Reader led to a stop and Burrow went to a screen to offset an all-out rush that was disregarding everything but the pass. Chase got inside on old LSU buddy, cornerback Kristian Fulton, and raced 57 yards to the Titans 28.

    But there was nothing available. Burrow got sacked on second down with Denico Autry getting past left tackle Jonah Williams when Burrow couldn’t unload in time and it was another unworkable third-and-long, so McPherson hit a 45-yarder with 2:11 left in the first quarter for the 6-0 lead.

    It was a dominant defensive quarter for the Bengals. Reader led a surge that held Henry to 11 yards on his first five carries as the Titans scrounged for just 37 yards.