Not so long ago, the Cincinnati Bengals destroyed the Baltimore Ravens 41-17 in a week 7 matchup. Everyone hopped on the bandwagon and rookie wideout Ja’Marr Chase was the center of it all with 201 yards and a touchdown. Chase has been fantastic, and the Bengals were rolling with the passing attack until they weren’t. They stumbled for a couple of games and lost badly in one of them.
They did fine against a bad Jets team statistically, but they lost a game they should not have. The next week they just got smoked by the Browns. This team went into their bye week with two straight losses and some newfound flaws, especially on defense.
Coming out of the bye week, we saw a new team. They rededicated themselves to the running game. It has worked better than anyone has expected and they are now on a two-game streak after sweeping the Steelers last week. Joe Mixon had not seen 20 or more carries since week two. In the last two weeks, he has seen 30 and 28 carries, respectively.
Letting the offense roll through Mixon has had massive success these last two weeks and it makes this Bengals team more dangerous than ever. Without the proven threat of Mixon getting all of these touches, teams could play coverage to defend against Cincinnati’s very good trio of wideouts. Now with Mixon dominating, defenses have to stack the box to slow him down and that turns into explosive play-action passes.
Rookie receiver Ja’Marr Chase has cooled off a bit since having a historic start to the season. This change over to the run game will do nothing but help him and second-year receiver Tee Higgins. Joe Burrow’s passing yardage has suffered during this time, but that should change as more opponents try to slow down Mixon out of the backfield. Don’t bench Chase just because of a few low-profile weeks. He spoiled us early in the year and I am certain he will bounce back.
Tee Higgins finally had a WR1 outing and may have reestablished himself as a viable option in this option. For fantasy reasons, he looks more volatile than really is. He had just posted a 15-yard receiving line the week before and everyone (myself included) opted to bench him against a tough Pittsburg defense.
Joe Burrow remains the most dangerous fantasy play because of his low output over the last few weeks. He still has some streamer value in the upcoming sale of games (including the Ravens again and the Chiefs in the fantasy playoffs).