Confession? I don’t have a freaking clue how Joe Burrow’s calf magically healed over the last two weeks. And I was certainly concerned Burrow might have forced things against the Cardinals last week in a “must win” spot and, similar to the fallout from his performance against the Rams, we might see a little injury regression against Seattle in Week 6. That wasn’t the case at all, with Burrow looking downright spry at times, including an almost shocking scramble around with several Seahawks defenders chasing him.
The box score doesn’t scream “explosive offense” — Cincy won a grinder 17-13 — but Burrow was efficient, looked healthy and, most importantly, the Bengals moved to 3-3 as they head into a much-needed bye week.
Burrow said earlier this week he felt “close to 100 percent” back from the calf injury and, quite frankly, I didn’t believe him. Did this dude fly to Germany midweek to get some kind of Kobe Bryant knee treatment on his calf? The NFL on CBS crew passed along Burrow’s explanation: rest, better diet, hydration and routine, basically.
Whatever happened, it’s working. Burrow suffered the injury in training camp on July 27 — it’s been less than three months since the initial injury, but it feels like an eternity since those steamy summer days — before tweaking his injured calf in a Week 2 loss to the Ravens. Things got so dark some lunatic fringe Bengals fans suggested throwing Burrow on injured reserve to “save the season.”
Instead, Burrow worked through it and did just that without missing any time. Getting to .500 isn’t the Bengals goal. They want to win the Super Bowl. But at various points already in this young season it felt like a possible lost year for Burrow and Co. Instead, they’re heading into a Week 7 bye knowing Burrow will only get healthier over the next two weeks with massive matchups against the 49ers and Bills looming immediately after the break.
Ja’Marr Chase didn’t follow up his Week 5 explosion with a repeat performance, but he did finish with six catches (on 13 targets) for 80 yards. Tyler Boyd stepped up with Tee Higgins hurt and the Bengals managed to move the ball pretty effectively without any semblance of a run game.
Burrow also is starting to push the ball downfield a more effectively, although his Next Gen Stats passing chart from this week was a little less vertical than last week’s breakout game.
Still, the style of offense is a lot less concerning to me than Burrow passing the eye test from a movement perspective. He was completely hobbled in the pocket from Week 2 through Week 4. Scrambling wasn’t even an option. The last two weeks he’s been a different player, movement wise.
There is nothing easy about the Cincy schedule coming out of the break: They head to San Francisco in Week 8, get the Bills at home after that and then the Texans, Ravens, Steelers and Jaguars are on deck after that. Every single one of those teams is a playoff contender. But the Bengals with a healthy Burrow can run as hot as any team in the league and with a morbid sense of dread now replaced with renewed optimism, Bengals fans should go into every single game the rest of the season believing they can win.
When the Vikings were both 0-3 and 1-4 it felt very much like their season was toast. Even more so when Justin Jefferson was knocked out for at least a month with a hamstring injury. They still might be toast. And Minnesota didn’t lob out some magically inspirational performance during its 19-13 road win over the lowly Bears.
The run game with Alexander Mattison remained nonexistent. T.J. Hockenson, Jordan Addison and K.J. Osborn filled the Jefferson void nicely enough. Kirk Cousins was fine. Weather was a factor that hampered both offenses and Justin Fields got hurt so it’s hard to say just how much the defense might have improved or if it was simply blitzing Fields (a weakness of his) and then getting a backup in bad weather.
Regardless, the Vikings are now 2-4. Their wins are against Carolina and Chicago so I don’t want to overreact to anything. But all six of their games have been within one score this year. A season after going 11-0 in one-score games, they’re dealing with some regression and more realistic results.
What intrigues me about this team is Cousins made it clear through pregame reports he’s not going to waive his no-trade clause in order to let the Vikings ship him out, get some capital and tank for the future, if that’s what they even wanted.
Monday night in Week 7 will feature the Vikes hosting the suddenly banged up, single-loss 49ers. That’s not easy, obviously, but the Niners at least looked vulnerable on Sunday, so who knows.
After that? There are some seriously winnable games: the Packers (road), Falcons (road), Saints (home), Broncos (road) and Bears (home) is a stretch that could completely reinvigorate this season, just in time for Jefferson’s return. Keep an eye on this team.
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Author: Will Brinson
October 15, 2023 | 6:50 pm
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