Cincinnati Bengals: Notes, Takeaways from win over Buccaneers
By Kenn Korb
Let’s look back at the Cincinnati Bengals 37-34 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and observe some notable takeaways from the game.
The Cincinnati Bengals are doing their best this season to take on the Cardiac Cats nickname once given to the Carolina Panthers.
They went up big against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 8, only to inexplicably end up tied late before making a final game-winning score to save themselves from disaster. They now enter their bye week at 5-3 and are set up as well as anyone to join the field in the AFC playoffs.
Here are my takeaways from the much-needed victory.
Mixon/Green/Boyd Is The Offense Now
Cincinnati has plenty of offensive talent at their skill positions, but we know they have not been on the same level without Tyler Eifert in tow. They weren’t perfect with him of course, but they had a much higher ceiling and were markedly more consistent when he was able to line up for them.
It is clear in his absence that this group isn’t nearly as potent without the threat of a great tight end in the middle of the attack. Heck, any threat of a tight end would be nice for the team now, but that group has been so devastated by injuries that they barely can put a healthy body out there anymore.
Eifert’s gone for the year after his gruesome Week 4 ankle injury. Tyler Kroft has missed weeks already with a broken foot, and while he’s not on IR there’s no clear timetable for a return anytime soon. Mason Schreck tore his ACL against Kansas City. Cethan Carter never made it to the season due to injury.
All that’s left is C.J. Uzomah (who has had injury issues of his own), Matt Lengel (a guy with three career catches), and Jordan Franks (a 2018 UDFA). That’s what they’re running with until the end of the season.
With the decimation at tight end, the gameplan must adjust accordingly. Against Tampa Bay, we saw a semblance of how the team can find success on offense — and the sort of distribution plan they must follow if they have any hope of keeping the wins coming as the playoff race kicks into overdrive.
That gameplan was fueled by the three best talents left on the offense in the wake of Eifert’s injury-forced absence: Joe Mixon, A.J. Green, and Tyler Boyd. Of the 59 possible touches handed out in the game, 42 of them went to this trio. The exact breakdown between them doesn’t matter too much, but the splits given against the Bucs would be a really good baseline to work from: 25 to Mixon, 10 to Boyd, 7 to Green.
That would seem to work well. Mixon getting touches (especially as a runner) helps keep the offense in a rhythm while keeping the opposing offense on the sidelines. Green makes plenty of impact but isn’t relied upon to a ruinous degree (see: Week 7 vs Kansas City). All the while, Boyd makes a strong impact while Green is taking up the defense’s main coverage attention.
The other players do need to have some sort of role of course, but leaning heavily on those three week in and week out should be enough for Andy Dalton’s offense to produce enough points to win most weekends.