Bengals Player Spotlight: Chase Brown Needs to be Difference Maker in Week 3 vs Vikings

The Bengals travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings this week in what will be their first full game without star quarterback Joe Burrow.

Backup quarterback Jake Browning showed extremely high resilience last week, leading the Bengals to a win and their first 2-0 start of the Zac Taylor era after Burrow went down with injury.

Despite their success in the clutch, there is one part of the offense that has to improve in a major way starting on Sunday: the run game.

The Vikings defense just surrendered 218 rushing yards against the Atlanta Falcons last week, which for the Falcons kept pressure off of young quarterback Michael Penix Jr. This fact alone makes it clear what the Bengals must do this Sunday, and that is to hand the ball off to running back Chase Brown and open up lanes for him in the offensive line.

Through two weeks, Chase Brown is averaging an atrocious 2.4 yards per carry and only has 90 rushing yards. That cannot be the case on Sunday.

Browning handles pressure well as we have seen in the past, but it would be more than ideal if the Bengals got Brown the ball early and ran the ball effectively. Not only would this make the Vikings defense have to respect the run game, but it would allow Browning, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and the rest of the Bengals' offense to lean in on play action opportunities.

Getting solid movement in the run game is a must more than ever before following Burrow's injury. It's up to Chase Brown and the Bengals offensive line to get it moving in a positive direction this week so that they can build on it consistently throughout the season.