CINCINNATI — What a freeing week this must be for Kevin Walker.
Walker, the Bengals linebacker who suffered the unfortunate fate of tackling Bo Jackson awkwardly, causing a hip injury that ended a legendary NFL career, would hear his name uttered this week every year.
Here we go again. The Curse of Bo Jackson. From the moment that tackle was made until the wild-card playoff win over the Las Vegas Raiders last year, the Bengals didn’t win a single playoff game. Thirty-one years of angst and references to the cost of milk in 1991.
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This week, Walker won’t be hearing from me or any other member of the media rehashing mystical creations. Or wondering what will be the next of Carson Palmer’s knee, Andy Dalton’s thumb, A.J. Green’s concussion or, by extension, Johnny Cueto’s oblique and Kenyon Martin’s leg.
That all changed last year. A black cloud of dread and scar tissue evaporated in a puff of cigar smoke billowing out of the visiting locker room at Arrowhead Stadium.
In a city where everyone has always waited for the other shoe to drop, they now just wait for Joe Burrow to run out of the tunnel.
Life has changed dramatically at the launch of the postseason around these parts. Last January altered the personality of postseason sports fans in Cincinnati, and that’s never been more noticeable.
There wasn’t even any complaining (except from scribes) about this game being moved into prime time. Bring on the lights, bring on all the eyeballs, bring on the biggest stage possible.
Now fans feel the same confidence that has long permeated the Bengals’ locker room.
There’s no shortage of it this week. Just ask running back/hype man Joe Mixon (more on that below). The Bengals’ confidence is earned. They’ve won eight in a row and have proved capable of winning in every way imaginable. Diversity of victory, explosiveness on offense, intelligence on defense … all paint a picture of a team on the short list to win the Super Bowl. They openly talk about playoff wins.
Meanwhile, they’ll be facing a Ravens team starting Snoop at quarterback instead of Superman. An offense that hasn’t scored more than one touchdown in a game since Lamar Jackson went down with his PCL sprain Dec. 4 and Tyler “Snoop” Huntley took over.
All of this is a long way to say Bengals fans shouldn’t tuck away those feelings of dread just yet. This Ravens defense is ferocious and motivated. It knows the margin for error is nil and will look to drag this game down deep into the muck against a Bengals offense it knows all too well.
"We know what it takes. That's all last year did for us."
"Everybody thinks about that in the back of their head."
“Reminisce? What are we gonna reminisce for? We’re here again."
✍️: How memories of last year affect the #Bengals attempt at an encore.https://t.co/INyETd5hum
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) January 13, 2023
The tone of last week and residual trash-talking that has happened since gives off big Steelers-Ravens and Bengals-Steelers vibes from this past decade. Playoff games defined by a bloodbath of brutality. The kind of physicality that required a trip to the cold tub just for watching.
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AFC North ugliness and playoff desperation are scary bedfellows for the more talented Bengals. Even the three drives in which the Bengals opened the game with 17 points last week were slogs. Grinding out 20-something points will leave a mark. Limitations of the Ravens offense suggest that’s all they will need, though.
In a past life, Bengals fans would worry about Huntley’s name ending up in the same breath as Tyler Yates, Mark Sanchez and Matt Schaub, all mediocre quarterbacks to end seasons and empower the curse.
Those days are gone. I think the Ravens will give the Bengals everything they can handle Sunday night, but inevitably, Burrow will be running out of the tunnel.
Prediction: Bengals 19, Ravens 17
On tap
Bengals host the Ravens on “Sunday Night Football.” Kickoff set for 8:15 p.m. Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth will be on the call for NBC.
GO DEEPER
Bengals playoff profile: Optimism, concerns and whether momentum matters
Overly researched stat of the week
On Dec. 18 at Tampa, Ja’Marr Chase ran one on one into the end zone against Bucs cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting. After a tug that stretched Chase’s jersey went uncalled on an incompletion, Chase popped up and stepped directly into the face of the official standing in the end zone.
“I just went off on him,” Chase said.
The altercation came and went, an otherwise forgettable play in a 34-23 victory against the Bucs.
Chase didn’t view it that way.
“I haven’t been getting any calls since,” Chase said. “I’m one of the best receivers in the league, I should be able to get those calls.”
Either at the line of scrimmage or the catch point, teams have used more physicality this season in an attempt to keep him from doing the Griddy dance in the end zone while a cornerback lies in his wake.
There’s one line of thought that taking a risk of drawing a flag would be worth it versus the alternative.
“I think that’s what teams are trying to do is if you want any shot at covering him, you better be physical and you better make it really hard on him,” offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said. “I think you are seeing a different, much more physical style of play trying to make it really difficult on him. If they give up a play or give up a DPI, what are they going to call, one or two of those a game? ‘Let’s take advantage of the fact they aren’t going to call it every play. So, frustrate him, make it hard on him, put your hands on him to try and disrupt him.’ You see that a lot with good receivers. Try to hang on as long as you can and make it hard on them.”
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Chase believes he should be getting more of those calls. Notably, the first play of the canceled game against Buffalo featured Chase running a go ball one on one, and a defensive pass interference was called against Tre’Davious White. So, technically, Chase can say he hasn’t received a call since Tampa, but only because the stats from the first 10 minutes of “Monday Night Football” were wiped out.
The frustration is understandable, specifically with regard to the deep go ball. Ever since his first touchdown reception as a pro against the Vikings in the 2021 opener, running the go route down the sideline has been a signature move for Chase. Not anymore.
Turns out Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase were just saving their magic for the regular season.
(via @Bengals)pic.twitter.com/vt3e72XtYE
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 12, 2021
Defenses have done everything in their power to take that away. It has become a missing piece in the 2022 Bengals offense.
There are 73 receivers with at least 60 targets this season. Chase ranks second in the frequency of go routes run at 29.4 percent. The problem is, for all those plays spent running Chase deep, the production has fallen off a cliff. Teams either aren’t allowing it or Burrow and Chase simply can’t connect.
Chase on go routes
Stats
| 2021
| 2022
|
|---|---|---|
Go routes | 152 | 162 |
Go frequency | 28.1% | 29.4% |
Targets | 29 | 16 |
Receptions | 15 | 4 |
Yards | 526 | 114 |
TDs | 6 | 2 |
Consider that in the Week 17 victory against the Chiefs last year, Chase caught four of five go balls for 153 yards and two touchdowns.
He reeled in two against Baltimore last week, including a “Mossing” of Daryl Worley (a cornerback Chase referred to as a linebacker/safety type Wednesday) for a touchdown. Burrow and Chase had missed on six consecutive deep go balls prior to last week’s game, many of them featuring contact that could have been deemed flag-worthy.
Perhaps the play and an increased attention on the contact and flags not thrown for Chase will make a difference. Either way, it’s a weapon the Bengals could use reconnecting with as the playoffs return.
Hayden Hurst is ready for his former team. (Tim Heitman / USA Today)Quotable
This time last year, Hayden Hurst sat in his house in Jacksonville, Fla., with his girlfriend and family watching the Bengals win in the playoffs. He recalls one clear thought.
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“Man, if I could get myself on that team and have that opportunity,” Hurst said this week.
One year later, Hurst called Thursday’s practice the healthiest he has felt since Week 1 after missing three December games with a calf injury. He’s coming off two games making spectacular plays, including an acrobatic leaping grab that gave him 50 receptions on the season and a $125,000 contract incentive.
He’s now about to play in his first playoff game since his Ravens saw a 12-game win streak snapped in their first game of the 2019 playoffs.
“I have to pinch myself,” Hurst said. “Holy s—, it kind of came to fruition. And here we go.”
He’ll go against his former team, a group he admits was interested in talking to him less following Week 18 after experiencing the two games this year of Hurst’s intense style from the other side.
“I just try to impose my will,” Hurst said. “If you don’t like it, you can match it. I just play a certain way. If I’m on your team, I’m sure you love it, but I’m not going to apologize for it. It’s who I am.”
Expectations are for Hurst’s celebration of reaching this moment to only accentuate the insanity. The crowd will be acutely aware during offensive introductions. He has zero idea what he’s going to do other than lose his ever-loving mind. Again.
“I just f—– black out,” Hurst said. “They point me to those doors, I put my helmet on and somebody has to tell me what I do. It’s not planned, it is totally organic, it kind of just comes to me in the moment. I’m a passionate person. I just have fun. I don’t sit here and choreograph s—. I just get excited. It’s like an out-of-body experience. It’s insane.”
Joe Mixon is very, very confident. (Joseph Maiorana / USA Today)Quotable, Part II
If the Bengals enter the playoffs as one of the most confident groups in the NFL, then Joe Mixon is their Flavor Flav. He’s the hype man. The 26-year-old running back was missing only a clock around his neck Thursday while professing his belief in what this team has and will accomplish.
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Here’s a sampling of the greatest hits:
• “As I said two weeks ago and I stand on this: We the big dogs in the AFC. Everybody knows that. They gunning for us. We are going to take everybody’s best shot. But they better be ready to take ours.”
• “If we’re not turning the ball over and (are) taking care of the little things, we can’t be beat.”
• “Whether it was the Bills, whether it was the Ravens, it can be bulletin board material for anybody. The facts is the facts. When it come down to it, when we take the field, can’t nobody touch us if we on our game.”
• “The chemistry is not matched around here. It is literally unmatched.”
• “Ja’Marr, when he is feeling it, the man can’t be stopped. Take a slant to the crib. Take a hitch to the crib.”
• “With our team and the talent we have … we shine under the brightest lights. When the lights get bigger, we shine bright. Come Sunday night, prime time, everybody going to be watching is going to be a prime example for us to go out and handle it and do what we do.”
• “With the big-play guys and the linemen we got in here, everybody is confident. (Burrow) ain’t the only one. You hear it in my voice and everybody else. Our whole locker room is confident. You are going to hear that out of everybody. We just got to go out there, show up and show out. Ain’t no other thing to it. All the talk ain’t going to mean nothing.”
• “Whether they respect us or we respect them, at the end of the day, the film don’t lie. The tape don’t lie. They know what they got over there, and we know what we got over here. Everybody can respect it, but when it comes time to line up, it’s now what’s up. We are going to see who is who.”
I believe the kids call this “spitting bars.” For the older folks, considering Mixon’s coin-flip celebration and tweeting the rulebook and fine letters to “Roger G,” next time reporters crowd around his locker, I will have to flip on “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy.
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Degenerate corner
A number of trends have made the rounds this week. One of the most notable is the fact that No. 6 seeds are 7-1 in their last eight wild-card games. The Bills’ victory over the Patriots last year was the lone victory for the consistently vulnerable No. 3 seeds.
The Bengals’ line had risen to 9-point favorites via the latest odds Friday evening, pushing up from the opening mark of 6.5 when there was a thought Lamar Jackson could still play. The over/under sat at 40.5.
As for our situational subset of the week, here we go …
Since 2000 on wild-card weekend, 13 times a home team has been favored by between seven and 10 points. In those games, the favored team has gone 11-2. The against-the-spread number has split down the middle, with the favorite going 7-6.
The interesting side of the results is that those two losses have both come in the last five years. Do with this information what you will.
This week in disrespect
The latest reason the Bengals feel disrespected comes from the Associated Press. The All-Pro teams came out and Cincinnati didn’t have anyone on the first or second team. Joe Burrow finished tied with Josh Allen for third place at quarterback, but otherwise nobody ranked in the top six of his position.
The Bengals, Jaguars and Seahawks are the only playoff teams without an All-Pro player.
You already knew what was coming next.
— Brian (@BrianSpeaksNerd) January 13, 2023
Bengals post of the week
Chad and TJ will be back in the house Sunday, with Houshmandzadeh serving as Ruler of the Jungle. A fitting presence as Tee Higgins and Chase take their show to the playoffs for the second straight season.
Dangerous duos 😤
Chad Johnson and TJ Houshmandzadeh, along with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, are the only Bengal duos to hit 1,000 receiving yards in the same season. pic.twitter.com/moRbUCQvAC
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) January 12, 2023
Opponent
Ravens: Lamar Jackson tweeted that his knee remains unstable with a Grade 2 PCL sprain. Jeff Zrebiec explains the tough spot Baltimore is in.
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The Athletic wormhole
Quality work from Daniel Popper and Jourdan Rodrigue in Los Angeles investigating the battle being waged behind the scenes regarding turf versus grass fields. No surprise the results put forth by the league have been viewed as untrustworthy, and there are many fascinating nuggets in this piece. It will directly connect to the Bengals as the conversation pushes forward this offseason. Paycor Stadium is one of seven with the slit-film turf deemed most dangerous.
Dad life
My daughter has started referring to me as Big Fella. She’s 5.
She got it from Bluey (along with an Australian accent when she tells some jokes), and it’s actually pretty funny when she randomly drops it in.
However, I’m fully expecting to regret this when the cute, funny nature of Big Fella takes on sarcastic teenage angst down the line. I hate it when you see in real time exactly what will obliterate future you.
(Photo of Ja’Marr Chase: Kareem Elgazzar / USA Today)
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