Peter Schrager's Cheat Sheet: Dispelling myths about the Cincinnati Bengals
By Peter Schrager
FOX Sports NFL Analyst
Welcome to the Week 13 edition of the Schrager Cheat Sheet.
Each week, I take a look at several things you need to know heading into the NFL weekend. This week, we look at why the Cincinnati Bengals are so much better this season, contemplate Jaylen Waddle's status as the best young receiver in the NFL and give props to an unsung group behind the success of the Green Bay Packers.
1. Who Dey
The Bengals destroyed their longtime division rivals and put the finishing touches on a season sweep of the Steelers with a 41-10 blowout Sunday. Joe Mixon ran for 165 yards, the defense picked off Ben Roethlisberger twice, and it felt like the 31-point deficit at the end of the game didn't fully indicate how large the difference between the two teams was.
Peter Schrager: 'Bengals are myth busters,' talks offensive line I Cheat Sheet for Week 13
As I watched the Bengals move up and down the field with ease, suffocate the Steelers' offense on every drive and dance in the end zone after each score, I couldn't help but think that this team is very different than the ones we've grown accustomed to over the past several decades. There's talk of culture change, and then there's actual culture change.
Let's start with the way the team's quarterback carries himself. Nothing against Jon Kitna, Carson Palmer or Andy Dalton, but there hasn't been a Bengals quarterback who carries himself with the amount of swagger that Joe Burrow does since Boomer Esiason was winning the MVP award back in 1988.
Coming off a devastating knee injury that could have set Burrow's confidence back, the 2020 No. 1 overall pick has been nails all season and is nonplused when asked about the Bengals' success. Here's the Steelers — this mighty AFC power, with a Hall of Fame coach and quarterback and a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate — and the Bengals embarrass them in a blowout. And when Burrow is asked about the mighty team from Pittsburgh, the one with all the tradition and fan support and Lombardi trophies lining the hallways, his response is this: "2-0 against them. We've got higher aspirations than just beating the Steelers right now."
It's more than Burrow or Mixon or the other famous players on the team. It's perception versus reality. Let's slay two myths from the offseason right now.
MYTH: The Bengals have a terrible offensive line.
The statement was made as a reaction to the number of times Burrow was under duress last season, and it took on a life of its own come draft time, when Penei Sewell was hyped to be the next Jonathan Ogden. Could Cincinnati really consider passing on Sewell — Orlando Pace and John Hannah and Jon Runyan all rolled into one — for a wide receiver? Well, the Bengals did pass on Sewell and selected Ja'Marr Chase with the fifth overall pick instead. Draft pundits went bananas, and football purists were alarmed. With Burrow coming off a catastrophic knee injury, how could the Bengals not select a left tackle to protect their chief investment?
TRUTH: The Bengals have a really good offensive line.
The Bengals' front office, led by Duke Tobin, knew what they had upfront and were comfortable with that unit. On Sunday against the mighty Steelers, that unit helped pave holes for Mixon's big day on the ground but also surrendered only two quarterback sacks. One of them was a red-zone coverage sack that was actually more than fine, given the situation.
The Bengals' offensive line has been terrific this season and, though not as celebrated as other units around the league, has been as consistent as any. Jonah Williams is a top-15 pick who's finally healthy at left tackle, Quinton Spain has been mauling dudes at left guard and Trey Hopkins has been good at center. On the right side, Hakeem Adeniji has been holding down the guard spot since taking over for Jackson Carman three games ago, and longtime veteran Riley Reiff at been solid at tackle. This unit can play, and even though the early PFF grades said otherwise, they're getting better each and every week.
MYTH: The Bengals are inactive in free agency.
It's long been a frustration of Bengals fans, this feeling that the team sits around and watches in March as the Ravens, Steelers and Browns beef up their rosters with free-agent acquisitions. Words such as "cheap" and "undesirable" are often thrown around.
TRUTH: The Bengals currently have one of the best free-agent crops in years.
Aside from the Patriots, who broke the record in free-agent spending this offseason, you can argue that no team struck gold more than Cincinnati.
In Sunday's game alone, free agent Mike Hilton had a pick-six touchdown, free agent Eli Apple had an interception and big-ticket free-agent acquisition Trey Hendrickson had a sack, a strip and a fumble recovery. On the season, Hendrickson — whom many dismissed as a one-year wonder in New Orleans last season — has 10.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss and 33 QB pressures.
Samaje Perine was solid when Mixon was hurt, big Larry Ogunjobi and D.J. Reader have been awesome additions at DT, and the defensive backfield combo of Hilton, Apple, Chidobe Awuzie and Vonn Bell has shored up the secondary.
The Bengals seem to have the perfect mix of youth and veterans, and they play an entertaining and punishing brand of football.
They're doing team celebrations, and the big offensive linemen are dancing when their running backs score. They're having fun, and for the first time in years, it seems like they're turning doubters into believers around the league.
2. The other, other rookie wide receiver
The AFC Rookie of the Month in September was Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase. The best target in Philadelphia all season has been Eagles rookie DeVonta Smith. The two rookies have jockeyed back and forth for much of the season in conversations about the top first-year target in the league.
Could neither be the right answer?
Peter Schrager: Dolphins' Jaylen Waddle might be the best receiver from the 2021 draft I Cheat Sheet for Week 13
With very little fanfare, Dolphins rookie Jaylen Waddle, selected sixth overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, has emerged as not only one of the best young wide receivers in the NFL but also perhaps one of the best overall receivers in the NFL. Take a look at the NFL's receptions leaders through 12 weeks of football. Check out who is No. 5 — not among rookies or guys under 25, but overall — this season.
1. Cooper Kupp, Rams, 92
2. Tyreek Hill, Chiefs, 84
3. Keenan Allen, Chargers, 81
4. Davante Adams, Packers, 80
5. Jaylen Waddle, Dolphins, 77
Waddle has been the most reliable and dynamic player on the Dolphins' roster this season, and during their recent four-game winning streak, he has 29 catches for 346 yards. He is up to 77 catches on the season, putting him on pace to set a rookie receptions record.
He returns punts, he can go long, he can go underneath, and he can block in the run and pass game. Waddle also has an awesome new dance, waddling like a penguin after his score against Carolina on Sunday.
Three receivers were taken in the top 10 of April's Draft. Take a look at their numbers:
Who's having the best rookie season? I could argue it's the guy in the Dolphins' uniform each week. No player has meant more to his team's offensive production.
3. The best unit you don't know
The Packers lost longtime center Corey Linsley in free agency — to the biggest free-agent contract ever given to a center — when he signed a five-year, $62.5-million deal with the Chargers in March.
They haven't seen perennial Pro Bowl left tackle David Bakhtiari suit up since Dec. 31, 2020. Stud guard Elgton Jenkins is out for the year with a torn ACL. Center Josh Myers hasn't played a snap since Week 6.
Offensive lines aren't supposed to get better under those circumstances. They're certainly not supposed to manhandle future Pro Football Hall of Famers Von Miller and Aaron Donald like the Packers did in their 36-28 win over the Rams in Week 12.
Peter Schrager on the Packers' Week 12 win over the Rams
The Packers' offensive line deserves a whole lot of credit and, quite frankly, some name recognition.
Left tackle Yosuah Nijman was undrafted in 2020 and has been holding it down, protecting Rodgers' blindside and creating holes for the running backs. He's also a fantastic dancer, doing the robot after each touchdown as well as anyone in the league can do the robot.
Left guard Jon Runyan Jr. was a sixth-round pick out of Michigan in 2002 and is doing his father proud. Center Lucas Patrick was undrafted in 2016 and is playing as well as Linsley is in L.A. or Meyers was before him. Right guard Royce Newman is a fourth-round rookie who is playing lights-out and improving every week. Billy Turner, a free-agent signing in 2019, has not only put together an All-Pro season at right tackle but been a leader in the locker room, too.
'What the Packers' backup offensive line is doing right now is amazing' — Peter Schrager I Cheat Sheet for Week 13
Adam Stenavich is the coach of the unit and is getting quiet head-coaching buzz already. A two-time All-Big Ten left tackle at Michigan in the Chad Henne/Mike Hart era, Stenavich never got on the field in an NFL game, despite many turns on practice squads. He is a great communicator and is the glue to the unit's success.
Green Bay is getting the job done despite a rash of injuries. No one's complaining. They're just doing their thing.
4. The post-Von era in Denver
Everyone thought the Broncos were sellers and looking to the offseason when they shipped Von Miller to the Rams at the trade deadline a few weeks back. Oddly enough, Denver is 3-1 since Miller left, and the defense is getting better each week. The trade netted the Broncos second- and third-round picks, but it also might have allowed the younger linebackers an opportunity to step up and be recognized.
Rookie seventh-round pick Jonathon Cooper has been sensational, rookie third-round pick Baron Browning has been solid, and recent acquisition Kenny Young has been terrific. Bradley Chubb is a top-10 pick who, when healthy, is a disruptive player who can alter the outcome of a game. Add that to a stout defensive line and one of the best defensive backfields in football, and you've got the makings of a unit that is jelling at the perfect time for a playoff run.
Peter Schrager: The Broncos' defense is objectively better in the post-Von Miller era I Cheat Sheet for Week 13
Patrick Mahomes & Co. await. Miller was 0-8 all time against Mahomes. Maybe things will be different without him.
5. Deebo's world
The 49ers will be without Deebo Samuel for the next few weeks as he nurses a groin injury suffered in the second half of Sunday's win over the Vikings. What he has done thus far this season has been historic. Consider these facts.
Peter Schrager: Deebo Samuel's season with the 49ers is one for the history books I Cheat Sheet for Week 13
1. Samuel is the first wide receiver to have two rushing touchdowns in a game in the Super Bowl era.
2. Samuel is the first wide receiver to have five rushing touchdowns in an NFL season.
3. Samuel is the third player in NFL history to have a season of 1,000 receiving yards, five rushing touchdowns and five receiving touchdowns. The other two? Marshall Faulk and Roger Craig.
6. A thought on "Succession"
I'm enjoying the third season of "Succession" immensely and find each episode this year better than the one before it. I do think it's the only show — with the possible exception of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" — in which there's not a single character you can possibly label "likable." In fact, just as you want to root for a character or point to one as worth rallying around, they do something deplorable. Like, I really want to root for Tom, but then he'll do or say something to Cousin Greg, and I leave the scene saying, "Nope. Not a good guy."
Cousin Greg? Funny, sure. Sometimes.
But likable? No.
And that's OK. The show is fantastic.
Who needs "likable," anyway?
Peter Schrager is an NFL writer for FOX Sports and a host of "Good Morning Football" on NFL Network.
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