Cincinnati Bengals' Run Game Scratching Historic Depths, and Passing Offense Is Close Behind

CINCINNATI – The oxcart, as Cincinnati Bengals owner and president Mike Brown often says, is in the ditch.

That oxcart, of course, is the Cincinnati offense.

The running game has drawn most of the attention – and consternation.

And rightfully so after another poor showing in Sunday’s 48-10 loss to the Vikings that dropped the Cincinnati rushing attack into the depths of historically bad efficiency.

The Bengals are averaging 2.41 yards per attempt. That’s the second lowest number in franchise history through the first three games of a season (the 2019 team was at 2.40).

And it’s the 15th worst mark in NFL history since the 1970 merger.

“There's a lot we have to prove in the run game,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “It's not pretty right now. We're not going to run from that. We've got to really identify where we're going to be in the run game, what we're going to hang our hat on, who we're going to run behind.”

Those last words intimate personnel change(s), but it’s hard envision the team making changes with tackles Amarius Mims or Orlando Brown, center Ted Karras or even rookie left guard Dylan Fairchild.

Right guard Dalton Risner, who replaced the injured Lucas Patrick in Week 1, left Sunday’s game with a calf injury. Rookie Jalen Rivers replaced him and played the final 23 snaps.

Offensive line coach Scott Peters, offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher and Taylor will study those 23 snaps this week to see if they think Rivers is a better option than Risner, even if the latter is healthy

Another option could be turning to Cody Ford.

Risner has consistently been better as a pass blocker in his career, as have the rest of the offensive linemen. It’s why they’re here, because the Bengals throw the ball more than anyone else.

If they’re going to pivot to a more run-centric offense, they might be able to keep some heat off backup quarterback Jake Browning, but they won’t be playing into the strength of their offensive line personnel.

“There's a lot of that going on that we gotta really sort out and identify problems and be able to correct them, on the run and during the course of the week,” Taylor added.

Exacerbating the problem is that Bengals passing offense has been almost as bad as the non-existent run game.

Their five interceptions (all by Jake Browning) are the most of any team in the league.

They rank 30th in pressure percentage allowed (28.6), tied for 30th in explosive pass plays (eight), 28th in total pressures allowed (30), 27th in sacks taken (10) and 25th in passing yards per attempt (6.0).

They had one pass play longer than 16 yards Sunday in Minnesota.

In his first two starts in relief of Burrow in 2023, Browning had 11 explosive passes, which were tied for eighth most those two weeks.

Browning is averaging 7.0 air yards per attempt this year, which ranks 21st.

With no run game and spotty pass protection, he hasn’t had the luxury of hunting bigger shots.

When looking at more modern metrics such as EPA (expected points added), the Bengals rank 31st in (-34.40, leading only the 0-3 Titans).

Cincinnati is dead last is passing EPA (-29.16) and 21st in total run EPA (-7.20).

In other words, the ditch is deep.

And the margin for error shallow.