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We’ve been over it in the column, and in conversations with Joe Burrow over the past couple of years—the old Bengals (or Bungles, as they were called locally during a pretty low point) are dead and gone. And gone with them is any sort of sky-is-falling, other-shoe-is-dropping mentality.
In its place is what we saw, again, Sunday. Which is where the new Bengals are and have been headed.
And we have a fresh stat to illustrate what’s going on in Cincinnati. Heading into Sunday’s Buccaneers home game against the Bengals, Tom Brady was 89–0 when holding a 17-point lead. One more time: He was .
He’s now 89–1.
Because of Burrow. Because of the Bengals. Because Cincinnati stayed the course and never tensed up or panicked when it was down 17–0, which allowed the team, led by Burrow and a defense that registered four second-half takeaways, to run off 34 consecutive points, a run that stretched from the end of the second quarter into the final moments of the fourth, en route to a stirring 34–23 win.
“We just have a really tough-minded team,” offensive coordinator Brian Callahan told me from the team plane. “We have a really resilient group of players that have a lot of confidence in themselves and the guys around them to make plays, and the game never feels over for us. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We did it last year against Kansas City twice, and our guys don’t flinch.
“I think that’s what great teams have, is guys that play through no matter what’s happening and just focus on the next play and do a great job and make enough plays to win the game. I mean, we don’t ever feel like we’re out of the game at any point.”
On Sunday, for the Bengals, it was about believing that a rough start—a promising game-opening drive ended in a pick followed by three consecutive three-and-outs—was more about missed opportunities, and a game opponent, than it was any sort of deficiency on their part.
“The first drive, we don’t even have a third down and go right down the field and we get another tip-ball turnover, which sucks,” Callahan says. “We took a sack on one and got into long-yardage situations on the second drive. And then after that, we just had a third-and-4 and a third-and-5 that were manageable third downs that we didn’t convert on.
“I think I give a lot of credit to the early part of the game to [Buccaneers coach] Todd Bowles and that defense. They played really well. They emptied their playbook at us. I mean, we saw every coverage, every blitz, every look they could possibly give us. … [Burrow’s] got a good feel for when things aren’t going well, what it is, first of all, and he knows that we didn’t play good enough, but we also weren’t terrible. It wasn’t like it was just poor play all the way around.”
Soon enough, it wouldn’t be poor play at all.
Callahan pointed to a 15-yard Burrow-to–Ja’Marr Chase connection, one he says “shouldn’t have been open” on a two-minute drive at the end of the first half as a turning point. That seven-play, 47-yard series positioned Evan McPherson to give Cincinnati its first points on a 41-yard field goal. And then, in the second half, the floodgates opened.
On defense, it was a strip sack by Logan Wilson, a fumble recovery by D.J. Reader and picks from Tre Flowers and Germaine Pratt. On offense, it was touchdown strikes to all three of Burrow’s guys—Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd—to flip a 17-point deficit into a 17-point lead.
“We’re really tough to cover,” Callahan says. “They tried to double Ja’Marr and Tee down there, and TB got the one-on-one and he scored. And then we got one-on-one again with Tee, and he scores. And those are just those big moments. For TB to step up after being in surgery a week ago, and catch a touchdown, a contested touchdown pass? Pretty remarkable effort by him to play in this game.”
So that’s six consecutive wins for the Bengals, and ahead is a realistic shot at the No. 1 seed in the AFC. If Cincinnati can run the table, it’ll finish, at worst, tied with Buffalo at 13–4 and with the tiebreaker (it’ll have to beat the Bills in Week 17 to win out). And if the Chiefs stub their toe one of the last three weeks, then there’d be a three-way tie, with the Bengals holding wins over both teams.
Now, it won’t be easy. The Bengals will go to New England, then get the Bills and Ravens. But that’s where something Zac Taylor’s been telling his team the past few weeks comes into play.
The saying is “They Gotta Play Us,” and it’s pretty clear the guys in the building have taken it to heart.
“Everyone was talking about how hard our second-half schedule was,” Callahan explains. “Like, Everybody hears that stuff. And we know it’s gonna be difficult. But I think Zac made the point in one of our team meetings that we’re pretty damn good, too, and they all got to look at their schedule, and we’re on their schedule. And I think that’s the mentality of our team, that they’re just as worried about us as anybody else will be about us playing people.
“So that was kind of where it started, and our guys believe in it. The point is that we’re the defending AFC champs until we’re not. I think our guys appreciated that confidence, and I think that’s how they truly feel. We’re as good as anybody in football right now.”
The Bengals are playing like it, that’s for sure.
