The first two games of the 2022 season represented major struggles on the part of Joe Burrow and the defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals.
Burrow threw three touchdowns against four interceptions while getting sacked a total of 13 times in these two games, both losses. Cincinnati turned it around to an extent against the New York Jets in Week 3 with Burrow putting up his best performance of the young season.
- Joe Burrow stats (Week 3): 23-of-36 passing, 275 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 114.9 QB
It resulted in Cincinnati’s first win of the season, a 27-12 victory over a bad Jets team. Heading into Thursday night’s outing against the undefeated Miami Dolphins in South Beach, there’s a few things Burrow must do to keep this momentum going. We look at them below.
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Joe Burrow can’t lock in too much on Ja’Marr Chase
It’s an open question whether top Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard will be able to go in this one. If he does suit up, the star defensive back will be limited by a groin injury. This complicates things further for a Dolphins secondary that has struggled against the pass in 2022. In fact, Miami has given up the fifth-most air yards (497) in the NFL this season.
As for the Burrow-Chase connection, it has not made sweet music like we saw last season. A lot of that has to do with Chase’s high drop rate (11.4%) in 2022. Though, Burrow has seemingly forced it to him through three games. The stats tell us this story.
- Joe Burrow stats when targting Ja’Marr Chase: 60% completion, 212 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 96.4 QB rating
Last season saw Burrow tally a 116.5 QB rating when targeting Ja’Marr Chase. The moral of the story is that he’s relying too much on his former LSU teammate (28% target share). While this matchup sets up well for Chase to rebound after two consecutive lackluster outings, Burrow can’t hone in on him too much. Tee Higgins (68% catch rate) and Tyler Boyd (71% catch rate) need to be involved in the passing game, too.
Related: Joe Burrow and NFL’s top QBs of 2022
Protecting himself from poor offensive line
Cincinnati thought it had solved the pass protection issues in front of Joe Burrow this past offseason. It added three new starters in center Ted Karras, right guard Alex Cappa and right tackle La’el Collins. Through three weeks, this unit has struggled in every imaginable way protecting Burrow.
Thus far this season, Burrow has been sacked a league-high 15 times in three games. His sack percentage (10.71%) is the third-highest in the NFL, below only Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields and Daniel Jones of the New York Giants. This comes after Burrow was taken down a whopping 51 times in 2021.
As Cincinnati’s new-look offensive line continues to gel, the onus will be on head coach Zac Taylor and Burrow to make its job easier. That includes quick strikes in the passing game, bubble screens to Chase and some passes to Joe Mixon out of the backfield. This unit is not going to succeed with four or five step drops. It’s not at that point right now.
Related: Cincinnati Bengals standing in Sportsnaut’s NFL offense rankings
Finding more balance for Joe Burrow
Cincinnati’s offensive line issues have extended to the running game with Joe Mixon struggling to do anything of substance through three weeks. The Pro Bowl running back is averaging 2.8 yards per attempt. He ran the ball a combined 31 times over the past two games. That’s not a recipe for success, especially when a team’s offensive line is struggling.
Mixon is averaging a mere 2.1 yards before contact per rush. That’s on the offensive line. But the only way to solve these issues is by actually continuing to run the ball. Cincinnati is 10-8 in Mixon’s career when he runs the ball 20-plus times. It is 13-34-1 when he doesn’t. You can do the math from there.