{"id":137568,"date":"2023-01-18T16:56:57","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T21:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=137568"},"modified":"2023-01-18T16:56:57","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T21:56:57","slug":"joe-burrow-bengals-replicate-last-years-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2023\/01\/18\/joe-burrow-bengals-replicate-last-years-magic\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Burrow, Bengals Must Replicate Last Year’s Magic to Make Another Run"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Well, it’s Groundhog Day…again.” Joe Burrow<\/a> and his fellows in stripes must feel like they are in the classic 1993 Bill Murray film, Groundhog Day<\/em> because this year’s trek to Super Bowl LVII is eerily similar to their path to Super Bowl LVI.<\/p>\n

For the first time in franchise history, the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> both won back-to-back AFC North titles and won playoff games in consecutive years. Burrow, in just his second postseason ever, owns the franchise record for playoff wins with four. He also owns the record for playoff passer rating (97.7) and playoff completion percentage (69.0%) so far.<\/p>\n

Even if Burrow can be considered the greatest Bengals quarterback in history<\/a>, he’s not done nor is he satisfied. In order to get by the Buffalo Bills<\/a>, then the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> or Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a>, he and the Bengals are going to have to dip into their tricks from last season’s magical year.<\/p>\n

Joe Burrow and the Bengals Must Recreate Last Year’s Magic<\/h2>\n

“Do You Ever Have Deja Vu?”<\/h3>\n

For most of the 2022 season, the Bengals offensive line was…okay. At times, Jonah Williams<\/a> looked bad and struggled with talented edge rushers. Other times, Burrow had enough time to sit back, relax, and go through every read and find his receiver wide open. They did not go a game without allowing a sack, but at the same time, they orchestrated massive games for both Burrow and the running backs.<\/p>\n

That was, of course, until the starters started dropping. In Week 16, Joe Burrow’s “new bodyguard” La’el Collins<\/a> went down with a torn ACL. In Week 18, Alex Cappa<\/a> got rolled up on and injured his ankle. For the Wild Card game against the Baltimore Ravens<\/a>, it was Jonah Williams who went down, this time with a dislocated kneecap on the opposite knee that he suffered the exact same injury earlier in the year…also against the Ravens. Both Cappa and Williams are considered week-to-week. However, expecting either to suit up for the Divisional Round matchup would be more than optimistic.<\/p>\n

Now, the Bengals must go into the fray with three practice squad-level players. Jackson Carman<\/a> looks to reprise his role at left tackle, Max Scharping<\/a> will be right guard, and Hakeem Adeniji<\/a> will continue working at right tackle. To say that it’s incredibly disappointing to be rolling out this offensive line after what we witnessed last year would be an understatement.<\/p>\n

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If you thought "wow the Bengals are getting the ball out quick" in the second half on Sunday, you'd be correct!<\/p>\n

The amount of quick game they ran jumped from 26% to 56% from half 1 to half 2 and they axed passing plays that took time to develop.https:\/\/t.co\/qU2F7moKWu<\/a><\/p>\n

— mike (@bengals_sans) January 18, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n