Bengals’ Jake Browning introduces himself to Cincinnati fans

The Cincinnati Bengals have one giant question mark heading into Week 12 — can they survive with Jake Browning at quarterback? After the season-ending wrist injury to star Joe Burrow, Browning will step up and get the first start of his career against the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend.

Since Burrow went down, many have counted the Bengals out altogether from the playoff picture. However, Browning remains confident in himself and his abilities.

“Every level I’ve played at, I’ve won. There’s something to be said for that,” Browning said. “I’ve always been called sneaky athletic. I don’t know where the sneaky part comes from … Always been accurate. Never been afraid to air it out,” via Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith.

While filling in for Joe Burrow against the Baltimore Ravens, Browning went 8-14 for 68 yards and a touchdown. The former Washington quarterback had a winning season in every year he played for the Huskies, finishing with an overall record of 39-15. As a Husky, he threw for 12,296 yards and 94 touchdowns to 34 interceptions. He also ran for 16 touchdowns. Though he was successful in college, he of course has to prove himself in the NFL. Browning has yet to play consistent football since he went undrafted in 2019 and has largely lingered as a backup or on the practice squad.

Regardless of how Browning feels, the odds are currently stacked against the Bengals. Cincinnati is just 5-5 and playing in the NFL’s hardest division. Not only are the Bengals in last place while every other AFC North team has a winning record, they’re 0-3 against their division opponents. This makes their upcoming matchup against the Steelers a must-win game.

The Cincinnati Bengals attempt to close out the 2023 NFL Season will begin with a tough matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Without superstar quarterback Joe Burrow, what will be the Bengals game plan?

The most obvious change this week will be the change at quarterback following the season-ending injury of Burrow.  The Cincinnati Bengals will start Jake Browning, who looked sufficient against the Baltimore Ravens but will be far less versatile than Burrow.

Losing a starting quarterback is always an incredible struggle for multiple reasons.  The most apparent is the drop off in talent, but arguably the most notable is the difference in practice reps throughout the season.

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is out for the season with a torn ligament in his throwing wrist, the team announced Friday. The news is a shock to an organization that entered the season with Super Bowl aspirations after consecutive trips to the AFC Championship Game following the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Typically, the backup quarterback spends a decent amount of time with what is called the scout team, where he will be running the opposing team’s plays to help the defense prepare for the upcoming games.  Therefore, Jake Browning most likely hasn’t utilized much of the Bengals playbook since the Bengals preseason.

Typically, teams in this situation will resort to simple short pass plays and screens.  While Burrow threw a decent proportion of screen passes due to a below-par offensive line, Browning will likely throw even more in an attempt by Bengals head coach Zac Taylor to settle his inexperienced backup quarterback.

It would be surprising to many to see the Bengals attempt more than 10 passes of more than 20 yards during the game against an elite Pittsburgh Steelers offense.  Look to see the Bengals utilize star receivers Jamar Chase, Tyler Boyd, and running back Joe Mixon in a variety of difference screenplays.

The second significant change in the Bengals game plan must be to force-feed Joe Mixon more.  Mixon has been relatively inefficient this season, but that has been primarily because the Bengals have relied on an elite passing offense and have limited their attempts to ground and pound.

The Pittsburgh Steelers defense is a strong unit with former defensive player of the year edge rusher T.J. Watt and Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.  If the Bengals aim to have any success offensively against this top-tier defense, they will have to soften the Steelers with a smashmouth style of play.

To put it mildly, the Cincinnati Bengals face an uphill battle to make the playoffs at this point.  So, as mentioned in the hit series Ted Lasso, the Bengals should try to be as unpredictable as possible on defense and “hit their opposition with the Chaos Cannon.”

While Defensive Coordinator Lou Anarumo has done a tremendous job building the Bengals’ Defense up over the past three seasons, the team has performed poorly thus far, giving up 386 yards per game and ranking third worst in the NFL in that category.

A major problem with the Bengals’ defense has been tackling, but Anarumo is also known for playing a fairly soft zone defense and limiting blitzing.  With the Bengals essentially having nothing to lose, look to Anarumo to increase his blitz percentage, play more man coverage, and attempt to confuse the mistake-prone Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett.