Quote:CINCINNATI — Every time the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense comes off the field, whether it be after a score, a turnover, or a punt, the linemen give position coach Frank Pollack feedback on what they are seeing from the opponent.

Sunday in the 34-14 win against the Indianapolis Colts at Paycor Stadium, the conversations were more about what the offensive linemen were hearing.

“Guys were telling me on the sideline between series that the Colts players were calling out plays, saying what to watch out for, and it was constantly the wrong play or concept,” Pollack said. “So they were just guessing. They had no idea. So that was fantastic.”

Pollack credited head coach and play caller Zac Taylor.

The Cincinnati Bengals Broke Tendencies To Bust the Indianapolis Colts
“He mixed up a ton of stuff in the calls and called a great game,” Pollack said. “We had some tendency-breakers that we threw out there that we hadn’t shown in most of the games. But sometimes tendencies are a good thing, too. It means you’re doing some good stuff.”
Left guard Cordell Volson said Pollack deserves a lot of the credit, too.

“They work hand in hand together and bounce ideas off each other and work really well together,” Volson said. “You’d like to be able to say every game is your best, but I feel really good about Sunday. We were able to stay out of third-and-longs and really run the ball well, and that just makes our job easier. And when you’re doing a lot of different things, you can keep the defense guessing.”

The most notable tendency the team broke Sunday was that the offensive line didn’t allow a sack for the first time in 43 games. The 42-game streak of allowing at least one had tied the franchise record and was the second-longest active streak in the league (Denver, 51).

Add that to the fact the offensive line allowed the fewest pressures (three) and quarterback hits (three) of the season while also paving the way for running backs Joe Mixon and Chase Brown to each top 100 scrimmage yards, and statistically it was the group’s best performance of the year.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that based on those stats,” Pollack said when asked if he thought it was his group’s best performance. “But stats are always a team thing. You need all 11 guys on offense to piss a yard.”

Sunday marked just the third time the Bengals have had multiple running backs top 100 scrimmage yards since 1990 and the 20th occasion in franchise history.

It’s another example of how the run game and the screen game have played bigger roles in each of the last two wins as the Bengals have leaned more into running plays from under center, with an emphasis on play action, which is something they limited with Joe Burrow at the helm because he doesn’t like turning his back to the defense.

Both the screen pass that Brown turned into a 54-yard touchdown and the screen that Mixon turned into a 45-yard gain came off of play action.

Likewise, the increase in play action has played a role in the increased production in rushing yards. The 156 the Bengals had at Jacksonville was their season-high, and the 11 Sunday against the Colts gave them consecutive 100-yard performances for the first time since Weeks 12-14 last year.

“You can do certain things under center that you can’t do in the [shot]gun,” Pollack said. “It’s not just the mere fact of being under center versus being under gun, there are different concepts you can emphasize.”

Asked what the biggest difference has been in the way the offensive line has played between when Burrow was at quarterback and with Browning, right guard Alex Cappa downplayed the change.

“We played as hard as we could when we had Joe, and we play as hard as we can with Jake,” he said with a grin.

Despite the differences in quarterback, schemes, tendencies, and anything else, there has been one constant this year, and that’s the five offensive linemen themselves.

The Bengals are one of only three teams who have started the same five offensive linemen in all 13 games, along with the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills, both of whom also are 7-6 and in the hunt for a playoff berth.

This is not unfamiliar territory for the Bengals, who started the same five linemen for the first 15 games last year before they started to fall one by one, starting with La’el Collins in Week 16 at New England and then followed by Cappa in Week 18 against Baltimore and Jonah Williams in the Wild Card win against the Ravens.

“That continuity is critical,” Pollack said. “You want to have everyone healthy on your team, but especially a group where it’s so important they are able to play as a unit, to play as one.

“So kudos to those guys,” Pollack continued. “It’s about how they prepare themselves every week, how they prepare themselves in the offseason to get their bodies ready, their professional approach. They stay on top of those things.”

When asked about how well the offensive line has been playing lately, Taylor took a little bit of exception.

“It’s not just the last two weeks,” he said. “There has been a lot of positive things that group has done over the course of the season. I look back against Pittsburgh, that’s one of the best pass-rushing defensive lines in the league. (We gave up) three sacks, and I don’t put any of that on (the line).

“They get the heat for that, that’s just the way it goes, but I think there are a lot of positive things they have done that maybe they don’t get the credit for over the course of the season.

“Just because we win two games, they start to get credit,” he continued. “They have gotten positive marks from us for a lot of things they have done over time.”

(12-13-2023, 11:55 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Is what the OL reported to Coach Frank Pollack on the sidelines of last Sunday's game, in response to Colts DL attempting to call out Bengal plays based upon formation and personnel.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/they-were-just-guessing-bengals-broke-tendencies-mixed-up-colts-calling-out-plays/ar-AA1lptzh?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=84e7f9ac556746a684d09385a1c014e0&ei=58

(12-13-2023, 12:04 PM)3wt Wrote: Thanks for the link.  Hopefully we can keep that trend up.   Got to be really hard to do in this league.  But I like the fact that they are trying to break tendencies and get new players needed snaps.

(12-13-2023, 12:05 PM)QueenCity Wrote: Another example of why being in Shotgun 90% of the time is not the ideal approach for this team.

(12-13-2023, 12:23 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Every one of Browning's 9 sacks have apparently come from shotgun.

(12-13-2023, 12:21 PM)SladeX Wrote: Joe needs to be a team player and adjust his play to the strengths of his line. Doesn’t like under center? Learn to like it…

(12-13-2023, 12:34 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Yep. The good thing is, he will have a full TC and preseason to get used to it. Maybe hit the ground running to start next year.

(12-13-2023, 12:56 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Was there ever any explanation as to why the OL didn't play in preseason this year?

(12-13-2023, 01:31 PM)Bengalbug Wrote: No, but I was listening to ZT press conference from yesterday.  This was an interesting comment.  

”When you prepare, there is confidence that comes with that,” Taylor said. “... We’ve geared our practices to get us to this point in December to be healthy, to hit our peak at the most critical moment. I think that’s how our team feels right now. We don’t need to do anything extra. We don’t need to feel any pressure.”

Most notably the second sentence.  These slow starts are a huge double edged sword because while you limit injury risks in meaningless football games (preseason) you are putting yourself well behind the 8 ball from being the top conference in the AFC.  That said, they just might not care that much about home field throughout.  Not at the risk of injuries and not winning the division.

I don’t know.

(12-13-2023, 01:25 PM)Nepa Wrote: "...the Bengals have leaned more into running plays from under center, with an emphasis on play action, which is something they limited with Joe Burrow at the helm because he doesn’t like turning his back to the defense."

(12-13-2023, 01:46 PM)Tomkat Wrote: I love Burrow, but I'm with a few others at this point, when I say...
IF IT HELPS THE TEAM (which it does) THEN TOO BAD, SUCK IT UP.  LEARN TO LIKE IT.

(12-13-2023, 01:31 PM)Bengalbug Wrote: No, but I was listening to ZT press conference from yesterday. This was an interesting comment.

”When you prepare, there is confidence that comes with that,” Taylor said. “... We’ve geared our practices to get us to this point in December to be healthy, to hit our peak at the most critical moment. I think that’s how our team feels right now. We don’t need to do anything extra. We don’t need to feel any pressure.”

Most notably the second sentence. These slow starts are a huge double edged sword because while you limit injury risks in meaningless football games (preseason) you are putting yourself well behind the 8 ball from being the top conference in the AFC. That said, they just might not care that much about home field throughout. Not at the risk of injuries and not winning the division.

I don’t know.

(12-13-2023, 12:56 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Was there ever any explanation as to why the OL didn't play in preseason this year?

(12-13-2023, 01:46 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: On the opposite side, does a unit that has to operate with orchestrated precision like an OL really benefit from entering the regular season essentially 'cold'?  I've also read some opinions that counter the injury prevention aspect by suggesting that the lack of contact in preseason leaves the body more susceptible to injuries from not getting used to the shock of blocking/tackling/being tackled.

I can understand saving the wear and tear on your QB and even WRs, but the OL, RBs and TEs would seem to need that contact heading into the season.

(12-13-2023, 02:28 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Simply starting next year with the same 5 would have a huge impact on how they start the year.

(12-13-2023, 03:26 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Oh all this is BS, tell em guys. It's the exact same offense we ran with Joe.