Joe Burrow and the Bengals made an incredible turnaround and change of narrative in the 2021 season, going from a team with the fifth worst record in the NFL a year ago to a team that will play for the AFC championship. next weekend.
However, one aspect hasn’t changed in Cincinnati: defending midfield.
Defending the Burrow has been a regular issue, even as the team has won the division and two playoffs and is now preparing to face the Bills or Chiefs in the AFC championship game. He was fired nine times During the Bengals’ 19-16 division round win over the Titans on Saturday, which tied for an NFL playoff record.
“They had a great plan. They had a great rush plan,” Burrow said after the game. “Make it hard for us, make it hard for me to disguise the coins and blit blit and everything, and they change the whole game. They don’t stick to one thing. One thing doesn’t work, they move on to the next thing. Keep us on our toes.”
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When Burrow arrives in Cincinnati, the main concern is how the team will defend the first overall pick of 2020. His rookie season ended early because of a knee injury that required surgery to repair torn ACL and MCL. At the time of the injury, he was third in the league with 32 dismissals.
Even after making improvements to the offensive line during the season, such as signing Riley Reiff and buying Jackson Carman, the team finished the 2021 season with the highest 51 bags in the league.
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But Saturday was the worst game the offensive line had all season defending the Burrow. During the regular season, he was sacked six times in one game and five times in four other games. Never has he been fired 9 times.
An average of three of Tennessee’s defensive midfielders are within 4.5 yards of Burrow at the end of passes (4.53 yards is the league average), according to NFL Next Gen Stats, showing they are a constant threat in defence. Some of it happened quickly, such as Harold Landry’s first takedown, which took just 2.6 seconds to happen.
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Perhaps most impressively, much of that pressure came with just four plungers, with Next Gen Stats noting that seven out of nine sacks had only four jabs.
The Titans’ defense forces tie the game’s 9th sack on Joe Burrow, and the 7th sack with a 4-man attack, the most tethered sack with four plunging into a game since early 2020 .
Titans DL Jeffery Simmons generated a net 5.7 EPA on his 3 bags today.#CINvsTEN | #Titans pic.twitter.com/SWlXQOs6UN
– Next Generation Statistics (@NextGenStats) January 23, 2022
The Titans are one of the best teams in the league when it comes to regular season defenders. They are only ranked 27th in the league in passing, according to Pro Football Focus, but they are 10th in sacks (43), ninth in pressure (169) and seventh in haste (79) although blitzing is at fifth low (19.9 per cent), per Pro Football Reference.
And yet, despite the problems of protection, the Bengals were successful in attacking. Burrow completed 28 of 37 348-yard passes with an intercept, which was a favorable pass back to Samaje Perine. That 348 yards is the fourth most in NFL history by a quarterback, who was fired nine times in one game, according to Stathead.
Burrow can often launch quick passes to the outside, which allows Ja’Marr Chase and the other receivers to kick in. During the first quarter, Chase caught an on-screen pass and crossed it 57 yards, reaching the second-fastest pace of his NFL career (21.66 mph, every Next Generation Stats), to help Cincinnati get into position to score.
And when Burrow wasn’t under pressure, he took out the Tennessee defense. Next Gen Stats reports that he completed 25 of his 31 325-yard passes when he was not under pressure, accounting for 93% of his total passes.
And in many cases when it’s time to throw, Burrow focuses on shorter distances and allows his fast receiver to follow the catch. He completed 21 of the 25 under-10-yard passes.
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Improved pass protection will remain a highlight as Cincinnati heads towards the AFC championship. But for now, Burrow can get a much-needed break.
