Tag: cincinnaati bengals

NFL Playoffs: Bengals have an edge against Chiefs with their ground game

When the Bengals and Chiefs face off in the AFC Championship game, Kansas City had best be prepared for Cincinnati’s improved ground game.

The Bengals have an edge against the Kansas City Chiefs.

No, I’m not talking about the passing game with Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase. We all are aware of the Bengals high-flying passing offense. But their effectiveness in the run game is just as impressive.  We saw how they controlled the game on the ground with the Bills last week in the divisional round, but that wasn’t the same offense from the beginning of the season.

Joe Mixon didn’t see his first 100+ yard rushing game until week nine of the regular season. Against the Carolina Panthers in Week 9, Mixon scored a Bengals franchise record of five touchdowns; it was also a Panthers record for most scored by a single player against them.

Before the Panthers game, the Bengals were only rushing for 81 yards per game which was 30st in the NFL.

Something changed.

“We came out firing, we were physical, and you can just tell from the way the backs were playing, the way the linemen and tight ends and also receivers — they were blocking their (butts) off today,” Mixon said after the Panthers game. “And I’m just very excited that we have a balanced attack today. (Head coach) Zac (Taylor) kept calling the runs, and we basically were trying to be as physical as possible. … I’m just basically very happy for my team.”

The Bengals were finally healthy and playing with physicality. That was their mission against the Buffalo Bills as well, to out-physical the team on the other side in every single aspect, from the running to the blocking.

The Bengals out played the Bills in the trenches, and they only had two of their starting offensive linemen available, left guard Cordell Volson and center Ted Karras. So, their plan was to direct the run game through them.

They ran duo blocks, counters, and wham blocks, all directed towards the defensive tackles, pushing the ball right up the gut.

On the fourth run play of the game, they had those two offensive linemen take out the defensive tackle and then right tackle Hakeem Adeniji {No. 77), pull across the line and lead block for Mixon.

They used a puller several different ways to get open lanes up front. Even using a tight end to come across the line of scrimmage and pick up the edge defender while the left tackle works his way upfield.

Expect these same type of blocks against the Chiefs this upcoming week in the AFC Championship game.

The Bengals used a wham block with tight end Mitchell Wilcox in their last matchup as well, back in December, allowing Samaje Perine to gain six yards on the play.

Even the Jacksonville Jaguars found some success using Wham blocking scheme against the Kansas City Chiefs last week. Tight end Evan Engram came across the line and took out the edge defender allowing Travis Etienne to punch it up the gut.

The Chiefs’ weakest part of their defensive line is the middle and the right tackle gaps, according to Football Outsiders. They are 27th when defending runs to the ‘Mid/Guard’ and 22nd ranked when the offense runs toward their ‘Right tackle’:

Of course, it’s great if the Bengals backfield can bounce plays outside getting into open space, but their best bet is to attack the inside.

In the end, the most important thing for the Bengals offensive line is to play in unison and they should be just fine.

“You got three new guys that haven’t played together a whole lot. It’s a loud environment which already makes it difficult with guys who are on the same page,” right tackle Hakeem Adeniji said. “That was number one, obviously there’s other things but that was the biggest thing. I feel like we were able to nail that and we were in unison on a lot of the stuff that we were doing and it pays dividends.”

Even though the passing game for the Bengals is their bread-and-butter, this game will be won through the ground game, and could be the difference maker between these two teams.

Rams’ three-pronged rushing attack could be the difference in Super Bowl LVI

Touchdown Wire’s Laurie Fitzpatrick breaks down the Rams’ rushing attack, featuring Sony Michel, Cam Akers, and Darrell Henderson.

The Los Angeles Rams will have a three-headed rushing attack for Super Bowl LVI. The matchup between the Rams’ backfield and the Bengals defensive front is interesting considering that the Bengals have allowed over 100 rushing yards in each playoff game so far this post season and the Rams backfield (post-season) only hit the 100+ yard mark one time, in the wild-card blowout over the Arizona Cardinals.

With Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson back from injury, we can expect them to be the one-two punch from the backfield with Sony Michel as a change of pace.

In the month of December, before getting injured, Henderson was a top ten running back, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. Michel has done a decent job filling in as the starting back totaling 121 this post-season, but as soon as Akers returned from his Achilles tended injury, he took on the primary role with his explosiveness from the backfield.

The Rams’ rushing attack may not be the reason they win Super Bowl LVI, but who they choose to use in certain situations will be critical. Akers will be the guy who can get to the edge. Henderson and Michel are guys who work very well between the tackles.

When we take a look at the Rams’ rushing attack, it’s primarily run from a single=back formation focused on successful play-action.

The jet-motion at pre-snap forces the linebackers to shift to one side. At the snap of the ball, a backside receiver will come across the line of scrimmage as a lead blocker for the running back.

Now, the ballcarrier has a few choices before hitting the line of scrimmage: follow his lead blocker, hit the cutback lane from the shift, or bounce it outside.

What makes Henderson so good when running this type of play is his choice at the mesh point, and then using his downhill speed to hit the hole with burst.

We just don’t see that same decision-making from Akers when running between the tackles.

Henderson is able to lure the defense to the line of scrimmage, and then put his foot in the ground and cut the play back to the opposite side.

Henderson keeps a defense on its toes.

Getting Akers involved will be critical for the Rams offense to remain multi-dimensional. We may even see the Rams use Akers early on to spread the field, and then give Henderson the ball up the middle.

Akers has had success with the same misdirection from a single-back look. His specialty is using his speed to bounce the play to the outside getting to the edge.

Using Akers to bounce it outside will be important for the Rams as they spread the defense sideline to sideline, opening middle of the field for play-action. Akers will be the guy to get the job done.

Once Akers gets a few touches, the run game can evolve from single-back into shotgun as the Rams start to run some tosses.

The Bengals might be the worst run defense the Rams have faced this post-season. Their linebackers tend to get sucked into the trenches and teams are able to bounce the play to the outside with success.

Against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game, we saw the Bengals let this happen late in the game. If the Rams use those same looks, Akers should have a day.

Consider also the Bengals’ preference for dropping as many as eight defenders into coverage. Running effectively against those light boxes is the best way to bend Cincinnati’s defense into more conventional — and exploitable — coverage schemes.

All three running backs have had success in the Rams’ offense, and they each have their own specialties. Akers can hit the edge quicker than Michel and Henderson. Henderson preforms better between the tackles than both Michel and Akers. Michel can efficiently get the job done both inside and outside, then also has experience with a gap-style run scheme.

With all the talk about Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. this week, it could be the Rams’ ground game, and not its aerial attack, that makes the difference in Super Bowl LVI.