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The Cincinnati Bengals aren’t letting quarterback Joe Burrow take many deep shots down the field just yet.
A strategy aimed at compensating for a poor offensive line and keeping Burrow protected and in a rhythm showed its big downside in a Week 2 loss as the opposing defense just didn’t care to defend deep and picked off Burrow three times.
The topic of taking deep shots down the field was then something Ja’Marr Chase and Burrow both brought up after the team’s Week 2 loss to the Chicago Bears. That critique eventually got a response from head coach Zac Taylor and offensive coordinator Brian Callahan.
So where does Burrow rank? Of his 57 pass attempts, only seven of those have traveled 15 or more air yards down the field:
Andy Dalton has thrown 1 pass 15 or more air yards this year. He's had 49 attempts. That's the lowest rate in the league by far.
Here's the list: pic.twitter.com/BPPWbRGb9C
— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) September 21, 2021
That’s one of the more conservative approaches in the league and it shows. More deep shots don’t necessarily equate to more wins, but in Week 2 especially, it was apparent nothing else would work against the Bears because defenders didn’t have to worry about the ball going over their heads.
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