Cincinnati’s offense has been the headline act ever since the Bengals handed the keys to Joe Burrow, and with good reason. Burrow has already carried the franchise to a Super Bowl appearance in the 2021 season, but he’s never been asked to do it all by himself.
The Bengals have kept surrounding him with weapons, and this year’s group is no different. Even so, one part of the offense has lagged behind the rest, and it’s becoming hard to ignore if Cincinnati is serious about another deep postseason run.
The issue is the ground game. Through five games, the Bengals are averaging just 82 rushing yards per game, a figure that leaves them in the bottom ten in the league. That’s the kind of number that stands out even in an offense built around big plays and star power.
Cris Collinsworth and his son, Jac Collinsworth, recently talked through why that has to change if the Bengals are going to handle the AFC North. The division doesn’t allow offenses to live on finesse alone.
"The Cincinnati Bengals are going to have to establish [the run] if they're going to knock off the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens," Collinsworth said.
Jac Collinsworth pointed to other top quarterbacks around the league and the way their teams lean on the backfield to balance everything out.
"Look at Kansas City and what they do with Mahomes," Jac explained. "It's Kenneth Walker. Josh Allen; they're running the ball like crazy with (James) Cook."
He also noted that Samaje Perine gave Cincinnati something closer to the rugged, old-school rushing style the team seemed to be searching for in its win over the Miami Dolphins.
That’s why the Bengals can’t afford to keep waiting around for the run game to fix itself. If the plan is to make this offense even more dangerous, the ground attack has to become part of the answer, not just an afterthought.
The question now is whether Perine and Chase Brown can provide enough to get that done. Time may feel like a dramatic word in Week 6, but in the NFL, it disappears fast.
If Cincinnati wants to still be in the playoff conversation in December, it has to start producing on the ground, and the next big test comes against the Baltimore Ravens in two weeks.
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Bengals Fans Have Real Draft Reasons To Watch Ohio State-Indiana
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Among the names worth tracking are Austin Siereveld, Amare Ferrell and Jermaine Mathews, each of whom could draw Bengals attention for different reasons. Sierevelds versatility makes him a logical offensive-line watch, while the secondary picture could be just as relevant depending on how Cincinnati navigates several looming decisions there, making this one of those college matchups that feels a little more important in Cincinnati than it might elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
Bryan Cooks Bengals Role Just Got Even More Emotional
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Cooks role comes against the backdrop of a Bengals season still taking shape, with the early returns from the draft class under the microscope and a matchup with the Tennessee Titans coming up soon. Around the league, roster movement is happening everywhere, but Cincinnatis interest is more immediate: how quickly the defense can get healthy, how the younger additions hold up, and how much Cook can matter once the games get tighter. [Read more 🡒]