For the first time this season, Joe Burrow looked like Joe Burrow again.
He steered the Cincinnati Bengals to a 31-24 win over the Miami Dolphins in Week 5, and even though the raw yardage didn’t jump off the page, the performance had a cleaner, sharper feel than what came a week earlier against Jacksonville. Against the Jaguars, Burrow piled up 428 passing yards, but the two interceptions hung over the outing and helped sink Cincinnati in the loss.
Against Miami, Burrow was far more efficient and far more in control. He completed 23 of 32 passes for a 71.9% completion rate, threw for 190 yards, and didn’t turn the ball over once.
That mattered. When the Bengals protect the ball, they give themselves a real chance, and Sunday also brought more balance on the ground with 117 rushing yards.
Burrow’s day was defined by finishing drives. He threw four touchdown passes, with three of them coming in the first half. Mike Gesicki, Samaje Perine, and Tanner Hudson all caught red-zone scores, and that kind of execution inside the 20 is the difference between putting pressure on a defense and settling for field goals.
Burrow also spread the ball around, with nine different Bengals catching passes. That kind of distribution helps, but there was still plenty of value in having Ja’Marr Chase back out there.
Chase had missed a good chunk of the previous game with a concussion, but he cleared and didn’t look limited against Miami. Burrow capped the day with a deft final touchdown, sliding through the pocket and hitting Chase for a 45-yard score.
Chase finished the play by pinning the ball against his shoulder with one hand.
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 🡒]
Bengals Bye Week Put Zac Taylor's Offense Under Pressure
Through five games, Cincinnatis passing game has been productive enough to keep the offense on schedule, but it has not looked as sharp as the continuity on paper suggested. The Bengals brought back all 11 starters, and still the attack sits 12th in total yards per game while searching for a little more punch when the field tightens in scoring range.
The bye week gives Zac Taylor and his staff a chance to look hard at the details that have held the unit back, especially the red-zone inefficiency and the way the offense has leaned away from under-center looks. There is also a running back decision hovering over the conversation, with the author making the case for a different starter, and the next stretch will say plenty about whether Cincinnati can turn those concerns into fixes before the season gets away from it. [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 🡒]