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What has happened to the Cincinnati Bengals?
Through five weeks of the 2015 season, the Bengals have one of the most productive and diverse offenses across the league. The unit ranks fourth in points per game with 29.6, second in yards per game with 421.4, fifth in passing yards per game with 297.2 and 10th in rushing yards per game with 124.2. In Week 5, the Bengals struggled to score against the Seattle Seahawks before the fourth quarter when they scored 17 points to pull off an unlikely overtime victory.
As is often the case, the quarterback has drawn most of the attention. Andy Dalton has thrown for 1,518 yards, 11 touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 67.5 percent of his passes. He is averaging an outrageous 9.5 yards per attempt and has thrown the ball 160 times in five games.
Dalton's career numbers are nowhere near what they've been during this five-game stretch. Over the past two years, his two most productive seasons, the veteran quarterback has thrown the ball 1,067 times completing 62.9 percent. Those passes resulted in 7,691 yards, 7.3 yards per attempt, 42 touchdowns and 37 interceptions. At 27 years of age it appears that Dalton is entering his prime, at least, statistically speaking it does.
When you watch Dalton on the field, that improvement isn't as glaringly obvious. He has improved his deep passing slightly, but his overall play still includes erratic ball placement, questionable decision making and bad pocket presence.
The improvement in the Bengals' statistical output says much more about the quality of the quarterback's supporting cast than the quality of his play. Both Tyler Eifert and Marvin Jones have been fully healthy this season. Eifert and Jones are both players at their physical peaks with an abundance of talent. Eifert in particular cannot be covered right now and figures to be the second best tight end in the NFL.
Adding Eifert and Jones to Mohamed Sanu and A.J. Green has given Dalton matchup advantages and wide catch radiuses at every spot on the field.
Jones, Sanu, Green and Eifert all have outstanding ball skills with the athleticism to create yards after the catch, the team ranks 13th in yards after the catch for the season. Therefore, defending the Bengals receivers is tougher than defending any other team's receivers in the NFL this year. They can each beat you in space or in tight because of their diverse skill sets and consistency.
Compounding the overwhelming levels of talent that the Bengals have catching passes is the offensive line. Andy Dalton plays behind the best offensive line in the NFL. Entering the season, the Bengals were one of the few teams who could compare their talent to that of the Dallas Cowboys. The difference between the Cowboys and the Bengals offensive lines so far this season is one has played to its potential while the other has struggled.
The Seahawks were able to create more pressure than any other team has this season, which is what primarily led to Dalton's struggles last week.
Most teams won't be able to create pressure against the Bengals. Even a team with Justin Houston, Tamba Hali and Dontari Poe couldn't get to him consistently when the Kansas City Chiefs faced off against them in Week 4. Considering that, the more fascinating aspect of the Bengals offense is the consistency of Eifert and Green.
Green may be the best wide receiver in the NFL right now. He is playing to a level that he hadn't consistently playing to during previous seasons. Green has always been an exceptional talent with a diverse skill set, but he hasn't always shown consistency at the catch point or strength against aggressive coverage.
The 27-year old receiver has been very consistent catching the ball this season and has shown off the strength to consistently beat press coverage.
In overtime against the Seahawks, Green got an opportunity to work against Richard Sherman in press coverage. Sherman is one of the strongest, most aggressive cornerbacks in the NFL. Even though he hasn't played to his established standards this season, he is the toughest test for any receiver trying to get off the line of scrimmage.
Before the ball is snapped, offensive coordinator Hue Jackson has sent his offense out in an alignment that has created space for Green to work in. This puts pressure on the receiver to win his route, but offers him space if he can release cleanly from the line of scrimmage.
Green begins his route by angling towards Sherman's outside shoulder. He uses his left leg to press outside. This is a movement that causes Sherman to shift his weight and turn his shoulders. Green is able to take advantage of this initial movement from the defensive back by using his upper body to chuck Sherman aside as he continues infield.
His release sends him into space for an easy reception and a first down on a slant route.
Beating Sherman isn't something Green (or any receiver) expects to do on a regular basis. However, Green has constantly been open this season. He has 31 receptions for 495 yards and three touchdowns, but those numbers would be dramatically higher if the offense didn't have so many options pulling targets away from him. Against the Seahawks, Green forced the Seahawks to move Sherman around the field because of how badly he was beating their other starting cornerback, Cary Williams.
Before Green showed off his strength and power against Sherman, he showed off his trademark fluidity against Williams. Green has unnatural fluidity for a player with his frame. When Williams attempts to engage Green on this play, the receiver is able to adjust his weight, shift his feet and knock Williams' extended arms away from his body. From there, Williams has no chance to recover his position.
Dalton's pass arrives high above Green's head. He is able to gain 22 yards on the play and a first down, but the play could have been much more if the pass had arrived with greater velocity and led Green downfield.
Green has been getting better service downfield this year than in seasons past. Dalton has a track record of wildly overthrowing his receivers when they get open downfield. This year he is not throwing with great precision, but he is giving his receivers opportunities to make plays on the ball. That is exactly what he did on the following play.
On this occasion, Williams didn't attempt to jam Green off the line of scrimmage. Instead he attempted to run with the receiver as he advanced down the sideline. Green may be more known for his length and fluidity than his explosiveness, but he uses his long strides to get downfield in a hurry. Williams has no chance of stopping Green from creating separation downfield as Dalton lofts the ball over his head.
From there, the receiver is able to evade a tackle before continuing to the endzone for a 72-yard touchdown.
That 72-yard touchdown reception didn't count because of a holding penalty. Even without that play, Green has still caught seven passes for 20+ yards and two for 40+ in five games. The receiver had 13 receptions of 20+ yards and three 40+ yard receptions in 13 games last season. The difference in his ratio this year is Dalton's accuracy, but his ability to consistently get open has never been in question.
What is different this season is how difficult it is to send more coverage towards Green because of the presence of the weapons around him. Eifert in particular is a problem for defenses.
Eifert has 24 receptions for 312 yards and five touchdowns through the first five games of the season. Standing at 6'6" and 250 lbs, the former Notre Dame tight end has the physical frame to box out defensive backs but also run away from linebackers. Against the Seahawks in Week 5, he showed off those different facets of his skill set.
His first touchdown reception against the Seahawks came as a result of a blown coverage when the tight end was left wide open in the end zone. It was his second touchdown that showed off what makes him so difficult to cover for defensive backs. Eifert works down the seam and finds space inside of Cary Williams. Eifert uses his size and ball skills to fend Williams off.
Importantly, he extends his arms away from his body to make a hands catch. By doing that, there is nothing that Williams or any defensive back would have been able to do to prevent the touchdown.
Although his two touchdowns stood out from the game, Eifert had six receptions for 78 yards for the game as a whole. Those numbers reflect how he was able to make receptions at different levels of the field. He didn't just isolate on defensive backs to dominate at the catch point, he also was able to create separation underneath consistently.
Eifert also had one big play downfield that wasn't a touchdown, though it was just as impressive.
With the Bengals looking for the game-tying field goal late in the fourth quarter, Eifert ran down the seam against Kam Chancellor. Chancellor covered him well, but Eifert was abe to stretch out and make a finger-tips catch before falling to the ground. This would have been a spectacular catch for a receiver to make.
When you consider Eifert's dimensions, it's only made more impressive.
The Bengals effectiveness on offense this year can be traced back to a number of different things. Hue Jackson is having a huge impact, Andy Dalton has been more consistent and the offensive line has been dominant. It's hard to argue against Eifert and Green's combination play as being the primary factor. Both players are amongst the best in the league at their respective positions, dominating opponents on a weekly basis.
