Bengals: Joe Burrow makes Falcons pay for awful mistake
Hold your breath and take a bow, Joe Burrow! The Cincinnati Bengals' quarterback and face of the franchise surgically picked apart the Atlanta Falcons' defense on Sunday. The final stat line for Joey B reads like this: Burrow, J: 34 completions in 42 attempts (81%) for 481 yards and three touchdowns Burrow dominated underneath as well […]
Hold your breath and take a bow, Joe Burrow!
The Cincinnati Bengals' quarterback and face of the franchise surgically picked apart the Atlanta Falcons' defense on Sunday. The final stat line for Joey B reads like this:
Burrow, J: 34 completions in 42 attempts (81%) for 481 yards and three touchdowns
Burrow dominated underneath as well as in the deep game. In fact, he completed three out of three attempts in passes thrown 20+ yards downfield. He couldn't have done it without the three amigos, as Tyler Boyd and Ja'Marr Chase each had at least 130 receiving yards with Tee Higgins adding another 93.
But the Bengals' quarterback also couldn't have done it (maybe he could've but humor me for a second) without a terrible game plan from the Falcons. Against an offense that has notoriously struggled in pass protection, they decided not to blitz Burrow.
In fact, according to Next Gen Stats, the Falcons blitzed twice, which resulted in the second-lowest blitz rate Burrow has ever faced.
Perhaps the Falcons were trying to confuse Burrow by dropping as many defenders into coverage as possible but that sounds like a terrible game plan in this scenario. The Bengals' main struggles on offense have been caused by their issues up front (not necessarily the talent at offensive line).
As a result, Burrow was able to sit comfortably in a pocket while finding his teammates and targeting every area of the field. Look at the chart in the above tweet and tell me that's not beautiful. Cincinnati was able to attack the Falcons everywhere.
Entering Week 7, Burrow had the 21st-highest PFF offense grade when blitzed with only a 58% completion rate in those situations.
With this win over the Falcons, the Bengals improve to 4-3 and set their eyes on a Monday Night Football showdown against the Cleveland Browns. It's time for Cincinnati to enjoy a well-earned long week.
Featured image via Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
