The Cincinnati Bengals came out of their first five games with a passing game that still looks dangerous on paper, but the numbers around it leave plenty to fix. With Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins headlining the offense, Cincinnati has still managed only 12th in total yards per game and sits just inside the top 10 in scoring. Even more worrying, the Bengals rank 23rd in touchdown scoring percentage in the red zone.
That is where the bye week comes in. If Cincinnati wants the offense to look more complete, there are three clear adjustments to make on the other side of it.
The first is simple: give Samaje Perine more work than Chase Brown.
Perine out-carried Brown 14-13 in the Week 5 win over the Dolphins, and there’s a strong case for turning that into the new normal. Perine has been more punishing between the tackles, does a better job breaking tackles, and offers real value as a pass-catcher out of the backfield.
Brown, meanwhile, has not looked like someone who should keep getting heavy volume. The argument here is that if the Bengals are going to stay limited in the run game, Perine is the back better equipped to grind out yards the hard way.
The second change is about how Cincinnati lines up and how often it actually stays there. The offense doesn’t get many of the easy play-action completions that other Shanahan/McVay-style teams can collect from under center because defenses don’t respect it. The Bengals have been one of the least frequent under-center teams in the league, with a rate of 35.1%, the second-lowest in football.
The fix isn’t just adding more under-center snaps for the sake of appearances. The offense needs repetition, and it needs a real commitment to it.
If the Bengals are going to keep using those looks, they have to call them often enough for them to matter. And the answer can’t be that nearly every under-center snap turns into a run.
Burrow himself is part of that equation, too, since he doesn’t seem to love operating under center or turning his back to the defense. Still, the only way to get better at it is to actually use it.
The third piece is getting Dohnte Meyers more involved as a designed weapon.
Meyers has already shown he can play both on the boundary and in the slot, and his lone carry this season went for 10 yards. That kind of versatility should be doing more for this offense.
He could give Cincinnati a wrinkle that makes the run game less predictable and forces defenses to account for something different. He can also help create more exotic formations if he’s motioned into the backfield, which could prompt pre-snap coverage tells and open cleaner matchups for him, Chase, or Higgins.
Meyers has done enough to deserve more than occasional usage. If the Bengals want the offense to feel less static after the bye, he should be much closer to the center of it.
In Other News...
Dexter Lawrence Is Already Creating A Bengals Problem Opponents Hate
Dexter Lawrence has wasted no time turning himself into one of the biggest weekly headaches the Bengals have to manage. Through four games, opposing lines have leaned on double teams to try to slow him down, but Lawrence keeps showing up around the ball and disrupting plays anyway, giving Cincinnati a rare interior force who changes the way offenses have to protect.
He already has three sacks and five tackles for loss, a pace that points toward a career-best season if he keeps this going. The next step for the Bengals is figuring out how to turn all that attention into even more pressure elsewhere, and the bye week should give the coaching staff a chance to build new ways to maximize what Lawrence is creating in the middle. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Burrow Just Showed Why Bengals Fans Should Feel Better
After a rough stretch, Joe Burrow and the Bengals got the kind of response game that can settle a fan base down for at least a week. Cincinnati beat Miami 31-24 in Week 5, and Burrow kept the offense moving by completing 23 of 32 passes for 190 yards while working the ball to nine different receivers. The run game did its part, too, with 117 rushing yards helping give the offense a more complete look than it had shown earlier.
The bigger takeaway for Cincinnati was the way the passing attack started to feel less dependent on any one target. JaMarr Chase was back after his concussion, and his return added another layer to an offense that needed it. The Bengals still have plenty to clean up, but a balanced day and a win over a playoff-caliber opponent gave them something they had been missing: a little confidence that this can look like a real attack again. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Enter Bye Week With A Real Chance To Take Control
A 3-2 start has put Cincinnati in a position it can actually build on, and the timing of the bye week feels useful rather than inconvenient. The Bengals have shown real progress in how theyre generating defensive pressure, a sign that the front can affect games without constantly leaning on extra rushers, and the road ahead looks manageable enough to make this stretch matter.
For a team with playoff hopes, though, the bye is only valuable if it leads to cleaner football coming out of it. Cincinnati has a decent runway in front of it, but the margin for error shrinks quickly in a conference race, so this break has to be more than rest - it has to be a reset that helps the Bengals turn a promising opening month into something sturdier. [Read more 🡒]