Broncos @ Bengals
Final Score: Bengals 15, Broncos 10
Writer: Ben Brown (@BenBrownPL on Twitter)
This was a rough one to watch. This was not an offensive battle by any means, as Denver’s defense played well and their offense was incompetent at best. Cincinnati’s defense also played pretty well, and even a Joe Burrow-led offense struggled for most of the day.
The key series in this game happened at the end of the 1st half. With two minutes left and all three timeouts left, Denver was gifted a second chance to get a score before the half after Cincinnati was penalized for a neutral zone infraction that extended the drive. One would think the Broncos would try to score a touchdown with all that time and their timeouts in their pocket, but they played with zero urgency and seemed content with settling for a field goal. Which they did, except Brandon McManus missed a 54-yard field goal with nine seconds left in the half. It was an atrocious showing by the Denver offense which only looked worse after Burrow took over and threw a dart to Tyler Boyd, setting up a 58-yard field goal by Evan McPherson that went through the uprights as time expired. This was the worst series of football I watched all day, and I watched the entirety of the Texans-Jaguars game so that’s saying something. Not only that, but the six-point swing was essentially the difference in the game. It’s got to be a tough day to be a Broncos fan as their playoff hopes are drying up fast.
Denver Broncos
Quarterbacks
Teddy Bridgewater: 12/22, 98 yards, 2 Sacks | 3 carries, 10 yards
Drew Lock: 6/12, 88 yards, TD, Sack, Fumble (Lost) | 1 carry, -2 yards
Teddy Bridgewater left this game midway through the third quarter after diving for a first down and landing on his head. He was loaded onto a cart and taken directly to the hospital, though it has since been reported that the hospital trip is only precautionary and that he was able to move his extremities. It was a scary situation for everyone watching, so hopefully, he ends up being okay.
With that said, Bridgewater didn’t have much of a positive impact on this game. As mentioned in the opening blurb, the Broncos’ offense was defined by that god-awful drive to end the 1st half and Bridgewater was a big part of that. He dinked and dunked around for most of the time he was in the game without much success and had a few near interceptions that he was lucky weren’t picked. One throw went to Jerry Jeudy, who had three defenders around him and wasn’t looking for the ball at all, and the ball flew past him right into the ground. They clearly were not on the same page on that play, and I don’t think they were at all during this game.
Teddy did take one notable deep shot down the right side to Courtland Sutton, who had the ball hit his shoulder and his arm before it was knocked away by Bengals CB Eli Apple. It wasn’t the best throw in the world, but I thought Sutton should have come down with it. And there was a deep ball that Teddy should have thrown in the first half, but he had to scramble out of the pocket and didn’t see Jeudy wide open downfield.
Enter Drew Lock. The running game had a spark lit under it after Bridgewater went out because Denver was able to run it six or seven straight times into Denver territory, setting up a touchdown from Lock to Tim Patrick on Lock’s first throw of the game.
Tim Patrick snagged it! @Broncos take the lead. #BroncosCountry
📺: #CINvsDEN on CBS
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/g1xHfZgLBF— NFL (@NFL) December 19, 2021
The corner probably should have picked this off, as he was in position but wasn’t ready to catch it. Patrick jumped in front of him, bailing Lock out, to secure the Broncos’ only touchdown of the game. This play was more about Patrick than Lock, but it was Lock’s only highlight of the game.
As you can imagine, chaos ensued once Lock entered the game. He overthrew open receivers, underthrew others, and fumbled the ball on a designed RPO in one of the wildest turnover plays of the season.
Two fumbles on one play! Chaos in Denver.
📺: #CINvsDEN on CBS
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/NJGd19YGJ0— NFL (@NFL) December 19, 2021
I’m not going to try describing what happened as the video is all you need, but the ball ended up being rewarded to Cincinnati as the DL who ripped the ball from Lock’s hands was ruled down by contact when he initially fell to the ground. This play pretty much sums up Drew Lock’s career.
Running Backs
Javonte Williams: 15 carries, 72 yards | 4 targets, 4 receptions, 9 yards
Melvin Gordon III: 15 carries, 53 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 8 yards
With Melvin Gordon III back in the fold, we once again saw a split in this backfield and I think we all heard the collective groan let out by all fantasy managers after this one. Gordon looked healthy without doing anything that really stood out on the day besides a fumble that was reversed on replay. He’s still talented and looks good running the ball, but at this point in his career, it’s clear that Javonte Williams is simply the better back. Williams did more with his touches and saw more work in the passing game. He also had this run which was simply incredible.
Javonte Williams is a tank
pic.twitter.com/Xw41C1HgJx— PFF (@PFF) December 19, 2021
It seems like he’s doing things like this on a weekly basis now. While I would be content having Gordon on my team (real-life or fantasy), I would much rather have Williams.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Jerry Jeudy: 4 targets
Tim Patrick: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 42 yards, TD
Noah Fant: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 57 yards
Courtland Sutton: 7 targets, 2 receptions, 12 yards
Albert Okwuegbunam: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 58 yards
Kendall Hinton: 1 target
Yikes. Jerry Jeudy likely was in the starting lineup for many fantasy squads who will end up being eliminated from the playoffs this week, and it’s not totally his fault. Neither quarterback had much time to throw in this one, and Jeudy didn’t have much of a shot to catch any of his four targets because they were all pretty bad balls.
As mentioned in the Bridgewater blurb, Courtland Sutton probably should have had a touchdown, but otherwise, he too had a pretty rough go of it. He did have a bad drop on Denver’s first drive of the game, a quick slant on third and two where the ball simply went right through his hands. The sun may have been a factor, but it’s a ball he’s got to catch regardless.
Noah Fant had a nice 28-yard catch and run that was almost called back after it looked like Bridgewater threw the ball from across the line of scrimmage, but on replay, it was determined that the play would stand. I mentioned Tim Patrick‘s touchdown earlier, and while he should be credited for making a play on the ball to score, the defender really should have been in a better position to intercept the ball. I give him half credit at most.
Cincinnati Bengals
Quarterbacks
Joe Burrow: 15/22, 157 yards, TD, 3 Sacks | 5 carries, 25 yards
Joe Burrow also was not spectacular in this game, but he avoided mistakes and did enough to lead his team to victory. The one play that stands out in my mind was one that didn’t even count. The Bengals had the ball deep in their own territory, and Burrow took the snap, rolled to his right to evade pressure, and delivered a bullet about 30 yards downfield to Ja’Marr Chase, who made an unbelievable leaping grab to catch it over his head. Unfortunately, the play was called back on a holding penalty, but it was the Burrow/Chase combination we’ve grown to love over the last few years between Cincinnati and LSU.
Burrow nearly made one mistake trying to force a ball to Chase that came within inches of a couple of defenders’ hands, but luckily for him, the ball fell incomplete. I don’t recall many other close calls like this, but there were a few instances of Burrow making smart plays by throwing the ball away when he had nothing downfield. He also used his legs to extend a couple of drives, including one on 3rd and 5 with nine minutes to play that helped the Bengals chew up even more clock at the end of the game. Burrow didn’t win the game for the Bengals, but he didn’t lose it for them either and that’s all they needed on Sunday.
Running Backs
Joe Mixon: 17 carries, 58 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 2 yards
Samaje Perine: 4 carries, 30 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 13 yards
The story of the game for Joe Mixon wasn’t that he struggled to find open space on the ground and wasn’t used much in the passing game. Instead, it was the fact that he jogged to the locker room with 6:45 to play for an undisclosed injury, and then had his ankle/leg rolled up on later on in what appeared to be a very painful moment for the young back. He tried to get up and walk it off but he had to go back down to the ground while wincing in pain. He was later seen with his ankle taped up while trying to walk it off and test it, but this is going to have to be something to monitor moving forward and he may miss some time.
Samaje Perine would be the benefactor if Mixon were to miss some time. He had an excellent 22 yard run through a gaping hole at one point, but was quiet otherwise. He’s shown in the past that he’s a serviceable backup. A Mixon injury would also likely mean some work for Chris Evans, who did not play on Sunday. He got some preseason hype and has flashed at times when given an opportunity in the regular season.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Tyler Boyd: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 96 yards, TD
Tee Higgins: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 23 yards
Ja’Marr Chase: 4 targets, 1 reception, 3 yards
C.J. Uzomah: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 18 yards
Drew Sample: 1 target, 1 reception, 2 yards
Tyler Boyd had a couple of huge catches in this one that helped Cincinnati come away with a victory. First, as mentioned in the opening blurb, he caught a bullet from Burrow that set up a field goal at the end of the half.
Joe Burrow slings it to Tyler Boyd #RuleTheJungle pic.twitter.com/no8tK6IfLq
— Pro Football Culture (@proftblculture) December 19, 2021
This wasn’t an easy catch. Second, he found himself wide open near the end of the third quarter and was able to easily scamper to the end zone after making a defender miss.
TYLER BOYD GETS LOOSE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/5PCieSyUby
— PFF CIN Bengals (@PFF_Bengals) December 19, 2021
He would drop a two-point conversion immediately after this, but it was still a positive day for the forgotten stud in this receiving corps.
Ja’Marr Chase was unable to get open for much of the day and was a non-factor. I saw Patrick Surtain Jr. on him a few times but I’m not sure if Surtain shadowed him all day. The play I mentioned in Burrow’s blurb was the one that really got away. Tee Higgins went up to make a couple catches but was quiet otherwise. This was simply a down day for the entire receiving corps not named Boyd.
— Ben Brown (@BenBrownPL on Twitter)