Bengals Bye Week Self-Scout

Joe Goodberry

The Cincinnati Bengals are off to a solid start after five games with a 3-2 record and normally we would dissect the opponent and dive into the data to get a feel for how they're performing this season, but with the bye week already here, it's time for some self-scouting and dissecting where the Bengals stand after five games.

Let's start on offense where they avoided the dreaded slow start and rank 10th in EPA per play and PFF has them as the 5th highest graded offense. 

Joe Burrow is again PFF’s highest graded passer on plays without play-action. He has been ranked number one in 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025 and now holds that top spot in 2026.

Does it feel like Burrow and this offense hasn't been explosive this year? I'm sure they want to create more big plays, but Burrow leads the league in 20+ yard touchdown passes with five. He's also one of four quarterbacks without a “turnover worthy throw” on deep passes. His 137.9 passer rating on deep balls leads the entire NFL.

But it's really the Intermediate area where Burrow is doing his damage to opposing defenses.

22.8% of his total passes are targeted between 10-19 yards this season and his 95.7 PFF grade leads all quarterbacks. 

He's completing 74.4% of his passes in this range and that also tops all QBs. And the Bengals are getting big plays out of it as Burrow averages 12.0 yards per attempt in this area. 

It probably helps that he's getting protected up front with the best offensive line of his career. This Cincinnati line ranks 6th in PFF’s Pass Block Efficiency.

Their 4.5% sack rate - 5th Best in NFL and they were 10th last year and 19th in 2024. Looks like steady progress for a QB and offensive line that has been heavily criticized for allowing too much pressure and taking too many sacks. 

Finish article at SI by clicking link below

https://t.co/xdW2BXMlKh