This Is How It’s Supposed To Look

Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow threw for 481 yards, 3 touchdown passes and ran for another. This was done in the course of their blowout victory at home against the Atlanta Falcons. It also put the Bengals in a tie for the division lead with Baltimore having the tiebreaker against them going into Week 8. When the Bengals are on their game, this is what they look like. They are a high powered offense that can score points in bunches and the defense is flying under the radar around the league. They were 7 yards short of having three receivers gain over 100 yards receiving in the game. It’s been a rough start for them, but for their sake they better hope that Super Bowl hangover is done with.

The ‘Yucs’ Have Returned

Don’t look now, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are quickly becoming the ‘Yucs’ of the 70s, 80s and most of the 90s. They’ve now lost two in a row to lowly teams on the road. First it was in Pittsburgh and now it happened in Carolina. Against a Panthers team that traded away their best player in RB Christian McCaffrey. QB Tom Brady threw for 290 yards, but the offense was lethargic the entire game and there was no semblance of a running game at any point. Tampa Bay’s defense has been their bread and butter the last few seasons, but it has been missing in action the last two weeks. They are fortunate that this is happening now and not in December when a playoff run takes place. However, if this doesn’t end soon it will get a lot worse in Tampa Bay.

What’s The Problem?

If I had to say one thing about the way the Green Bay Packers have been playing of late, it’s that they have abandoned running the ball with the two capable running backs at their disposal. Aaron Jones is averaging 5.5 yards per attempt and AJ Dillon is averaging 3.9 yards per attempt. Both can be utilized in the passing game as well. More so with Aaron Jones, but the fact remains that the Packers are not involving these two nearly as much as they need to in the midst of their 3-game losing streak. This last loss to Washington was puzzling to say the least. They only ran the ball 12 times in a close game. Aaron Jones did make 9 catches and scored 2 touchdowns receiving, but AJ Dillon was a non-factor. If head coach Matt LaFleur wants to right this ship this trend has to change and fast. QB Aaron Rodgers isn’t getting any younger and he doesn’t have a lot of go-to options in the passing game. Run the damn ball.