After being eliminated from playoff contention, the Bengals have ripped off two blowout wins, albeit, against bad teams, including the Cardinals, who are battling through a lot of injuries. With the playoffs out of focus, this time of evaluation continues to tell some interesting tales, with some guys playing themselves into good positions for next season, while others might be playing themselves off the team.
Winners:
QB, Joe Burrow
Burrow was on top of his game. The pocket presence and accuracy was on full display, as it often is. He completed 24/31 passes for 305 yards and 2 TD’s. He also did not turn the ball over, and could have piled on more stats, had he not been pulled in the 4th quarter due to the game already having reached garbage time.
RB, Chase Brown
Brown paced the Bengals offence, going for 141 yards from scrimmage. He also scored 2 rushing TD’s in the 3rd quarter to help put the game out of reach. Over the past several weeks, Brown has found ways to make an impact in both the passing and running game, while also finding the end zone frequently.
Offensive Line
Outside of one game, the Bengals offensive line has really been impressive in the back half of the season. This was another one where, across the board, the pass protection was near elite. Orlando Brown, Dylan Fairchild, Ted Karras, Dalton Risner, and Amarius Mims seem to have found some chemistry, and it has been a blessing for Burrow, since he returned from his toe injury. The unit was also excellent in the running game, helping Chase Brown to a productive output.
WR, Ja’Marr Chase
Chase led the team in receptions and yardage. He only put up 60, but like Burrow, took a seat in the 4th quarter. But mainly, Chase makes this list for his 2 TD’s, which helped the Bengals go into the half with a two score lead.
DE’s, Myles Murphy, Shemar Stewart, & Cedric Johnson
I should mention that the OT play from the Cardinals was pretty bad. But it was still good to see the DE’s putting up some production.
Murphy, who had a sack and several stops against the run, has now strung together a number of quality performances, potentially giving him a chance to start full time next season.
It wasn’t the most impactful day for Stewart, but he was able to get home for his first career sack. Something, hopefully, that he’ll be able to build on.
Johnson, meanwhile, feasted on some weak matchups. He put up 5 pressures, and was noticeable when they unleashed him to rush the passer. Johnson was also rewarded with a sack.
DT, TJ Slaton
I have been critical of Slaton for much of this season, but his performance in week 17 was very good. The big NT made a handful of stops against the run. But interestingly enough, he was able to pick up a sack, and was even noticeable as a pass rusher beyond just that play.
CB’s, Daxton Hill & DJ Turner
Hill gave up one big play for 20+ yards where he sort of lost track of his man on a deep in-route. But otherwise, he completely locked down opposing receivers. Hill saw an additional 5 targets, which isn’t insignificant. But he only gave up 1 catch for 1 yard.
As for Turner, he did not even allow a reception, despite being targeted 4 times. Some great play from the duo.
LB’s, Demetrius Knight & Barrett Carter
Knight and Carter also had good performances. Seeing McBride go for so many yards might have led to a different assumption, but his yards were mostly against the safeties. Neither gave up much in coverage, neither one missed a tackle, and both made a couple of plays against the run. Possibly the most complete performance we have seen from them as a duo in the same game.
OT, Cody Ford
The big offensive lineman made waves in week 17 when he was split out wide and caught a pass. Some might not have been expecting him to see a target, but Burrow went through his reads, before looking Ford’s way. The lineman made a nice hands catch before using his size to pick up yards after the catch. It was a 21 yard play.
Losers:
S, Geno Stone
By this point, you have to figure that Stone won’t be back with the Bengals next season. He was atrocious in coverage, and was by far the worst member of the secondary in week 17. While his coverage was bad, his tackling was even worse. He missed 3 of them, but there was one that really stood out. It was with Michael Wilson running down the sideline. He was surrounded by defenders, and Stone just had to get him out of bounds. However, he whiffed with the shoulder and Wilson ended up going for a TD. One of the worst tackle attempts you’ll see.
TE Coverage
The defence played well in a general sense, but the struggles against TE’s continued. Geno Stone, Tycen Anderson, and Jordan Battle were all responsible for decent pickups by McBride, but Arizona had the star TE in many different matchups. There wasn’t one individual who really got burned bigtime, but collectively, the unit allowed him to rack up 10 catches for 76 yards and a TD. Anderson was the one who allowed the TD, as he was in the game with it having reached garbage time.
Thumbnail Image Via: Alexander Jonesi (CC)