THE BOTTOM LINE
The Bengals let an injured Tyrod Taylor steal the opener. They allowed Baker Mayfield to simply hand off to abscond with a Thursday night game. And last Sunday they watched Carson Wentz slither away with a win in the final minute of regulation last Sunday in Philly.
And now they are faced with Minshew, a dangerous athlete out of the pocket who went 19 of 20 in the opener after a season he became the fifth rookie quarterback in history to throw at least 20 touchdown while rushing for at least 300 yards.
But he also has a 7-8 career record, has lost six of his last nine and his last two on the road as the Jags try to re-build. He beat the Bengals in here last year, scrambling for 48 yards, handing off to running back Leonard Fournette for 131 yards and surviving a miserable 15 of 32 passing on those 216 yards on the ground.
That's head coach Doug Marrone's M.O., never mind the quarterback. Three years ago when the AFC final-bound Jags hammered the Bengals, 23-7, in north Florida, Bortles handed it off 35 times while flipping it for less than seven yards per throw. Yet the Jags made just a total of one turnover in both games while Minshew hogged the ball for 38:17 and Bortles kept it for more than 40 minutes.
Maybe if you can beat them, join 'em …
Old friend Jay Gruden is back as the Jags offensive coordinator, returning to the building where Andy Dalton put it up 51 times in Gruden's last game as the Bengals offensive coordinator, a loss in the 2013 AFC Wild Card to the Chargers in a game the Bengals got blanked in the second half of a game they led at halftime, 10-7.
Gruden had a terrific three-year run in Cincinnati with one of the franchise's great coaching jobs in guiding Dalton and wide receiver A.J. Green to play-off berths in their first seasons. But don't look for the 50-pass recipe this Sunday from Marrone, the old Syracuse offensive lineman.
With the same two D-tackles that were down when the Browns rushed for 215 yards two weeks ago, guess what Marrone is doing with Minshew and running back James Robinson, a guy that appears to be a mystery with the most rushing yards by an undrafted rookie in the first three weeks of an NFL season with 210?
Meanwhile, Bengals running backs have just 174 yards and head coach Zac Taylor has spent the week underscoring the importance of getting Joe Mixon going. Then on Saturday morning he had to make Mixon questionable with a chest injury.
But whether it's Mixon or Giovani Bernard or Samaje Perine or maybe all three, there does seem to be an opportunity to seize the clock from Marrone. No one has been hit or sacked more than Burrow, but only one team has fewer sacks than the Jags' three.
The Bengals signed Alex Redmond on Saturday to fill the slot of the IR-ed Daniels and that would indicate he'll become their third starting right guard in four games. Redmond is known as a ferocious yet at times undisciplined run blocker who gives them power and size inside. That would appear to bode well for the run game. Plus, there looks to be a big edge for the Bengals wide receivers with the Jags' total NFL seasons in the starting secondary nine.
The defense is banged up, but all eyes are on the offense to save the day.
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October 04, 2020 at 06:05PM
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Media Roundtable: Bengals Look To Break Through - Bengals.com
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