Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is probably sick of many things right now as his team sits at 3-5, and the outlook — now and later — just isn’t all that great.
But one problem seemed to stick out more than the rest exiting the weekend’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles:
The team’s ineffectiveness in short-yardage situations.
Asked if the major struggles on short-conversion downs over the last few years have been frustrating, Burrow agreed and explained why it was such a big issue against the Eagles.
“After the first game, we ran it well for a couple weeks in a row there,” Burrow said. “The last couple of weeks haven’t been good enough. When you play good rushers like we have the last several weeks, you’ve got to keep them off balance and be able to run the ball. If you don’t, then they aren’t going to be quite as worried about it and then their edge guys are going to start getting push and play action isn’t going to be as good. So, you’ve got to drop back and make plays, and that’s what those kind of teams want. So, it’s tough when you can’t.”
Zac Taylor has already taken the blame for the brutal 4th-and-one failure that swung the game against the Eagles.
But Bengals fans know this goes well beyond Week 8. Whether it’s play calling, scheme or lack of talent inside, the Bengals have struggled in short yardage since Burrow arrived. It was the same story when Joe Mixon was in town and remains a problem today.
At this point, it’s not too early to look ahead — the interior play and scheme in short yardage will be a focal point of next offseason.
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