On the other side of every big completion Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has thrown since the bye week, there was a cornerback Burrow was confident he could beat.
When Burrow needed a first down against the Las Vegas Raiders, he targeted cornerback Brandon Facyson, who has since been benched from the Raiders starting lineup. When Burrow threw a 32-yard touchdown to wide receiver Tee Higgins against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Burrow noticed Higgins’ matchup against James Pierre, an undersized and undrafted cornerback.
Over the following two weeks, Burrow took advantage of matchups versus undrafted cornerback Tevaughn Campbell of the Los Angeles Chargers and San Francisco 49ers cornerback Ambry Thomas, who was making his first NFL start.
When the Bengals face the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Burrow won’t have that luxury as he faces arguably the best secondary in the NFL.
“A lot of weeks, you look at the film and say you can attack this guy,” Burrow said. “(The Broncos) don’t have any of those guys on defense. Top to bottom, they're probably the deepest (secondary) that we’ve played.”
This season, the Bengals passing game has gone through multiple different phases. For a few weeks, the Bengals offense was built around beating blitzes. For a few weeks, the Bengals offense prioritized the power run game. But in every game this year, targeting the weakness in the opposing team’s secondary has been a common thread.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor’s philosophy on that approach impacted the team’s decision to invest a first round pick, a second round pick and a veteran contract extension on his three starting receivers.
All season, Burrow has said he doesn’t allocate a specific number of targets he wants to give each receiver before a game. Instead, he puts more attention on where the defense gives him the best shot to throw the ball for a big gain.
Even though the Bengals have mostly seen zone defenses over the last month, Burrow has still made a point to target weaknesses on the opposing team’s secondary.
The Broncos secondary doesn’t have an obvious target. Denver has one of the few secondaries in the league that can match up one-on-one against the Bengals receivers.
“Their coverage scheme is hard to attack because it's sound,” Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said. “They don't give you a lot of room... It doesn't really get much more complicated than that. It's going to be a good offense and a good defense going at each other on Sunday.”
At outside corner, the Broncos have Ronald Darby, who signed a three-year deal with Denver in free agency last offseason, and Patrick Surtain II, the best rookie cornerback in the NFL and a top-10 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. In the slot, the Broncos have Bryce Callahan, who Broncos head coach Vic Fangio has called one of the best slot cornerbacks in the NFL.
The Denver Broncos are so loaded they have Pro Bowlers on the bench
The Broncos have so much depth that two-time Pro Bowler Kyle Fuller comes off the bench. At safety, Denver has 12-year veteran Kareem Jackson and Justin Simmons, the third-highest paid safety in the NFL.
“They're a really well-rounded, good football team,” Taylor said. “Where is the weakness?”
Unlike most of the teams the Bengals played recently, the Broncos lean on man-to-man defense. Due to the Broncos style of defense and the talent in the secondary, the Bengals’ Week 9 matchup against the Cleveland Browns is the only similar style of defense the team has seen this season.
The Bengals wide receivers played their worst game of the season in that matchup, dealing with drops, interceptions and missed opportunities in a 41-16 loss. Burrow gave Ja’Marr Chase 13 targets in that game even though Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward was guarding him. He also gave Higgins eight targets, including a few 50-50 opportunities.
Even though Chase and Higgins lost their one-on-one matchups against the Browns, Burrow put the most faith in his two best receivers. Six weeks later, Burrow, Chase and Higgins will get another chance to show what they can do against an elite secondary.
“We haven’t seen (a defense like Denver’s) in a couple weeks,” Burrow said. “Denver might be playing man, and they have really good players in the secondary. We’ve seen something new from every team we’ve played.”
STAYING PUT: Callahan said Hakeem Adeniji would remain the Bengals right guard going forward. Adeniji took over as the starter as soon as he returned from a pectoral injury that kept him out for the first eight games of the season.
“Hakeem has done a really nice job, and that’s not to say he’s been perfect but he’s done well,” Callahan said. “He has improved and he’s got another chance to go do it this week.”
FINALIZING PLANS: The Bengals are giving wide receiver Trenton Irwin, wide receiver Tyler Boyd and practice squad wide receiver Trent Taylor reps at punt returner as the team looks for a replacement for Darius Phillips.
“We’ll work several of our guys out there,” Taylor said. “I think we have an idea where we may go with it. But we’re going to give it a couple of days just to make certain before I announce anything.”
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