There is no question that the Cincinnati Bengals became a different franchise with Joe Burrow at the controls — and especially after Ja’marr Chase joined Burrow in 2021 in a reunion of the pitch-and-catch duo that led LSU to the national championship in 2019.
But different does not mean unbeatable — certainly not this year, when the Bengals are 7-8 and 2-5 at home. Cincinnati’s explosive offense has been accompanied by a porous defense that has succeeded at just one thing on a consistent basis this season: forcing turnovers.
The Bengals are, in fact, the only team in the NFL to force 11 takeaways in a 3-game span, having done that during the three-game winning streak they carry into Saturday’s clash. By comparison, the Broncos have just 11 giveaways in their past 11 games — the 10th-best figure in the NFL since the start of October.
Having the best chance to defeat the Burrow-led Bengals starts with protecting and possessing the football, because the more Burrow can fidget on the Bengals’ bench, the fewer times you will be exposed to trying to contain him and Cincinnati’s armada of targets.
“It’s going to come down to which offense executes, scores the most points, stays on the field, helps their defense out,” Broncos quarterback Bo Nix said.
The numbers bear that out.
1-11
That is Cincinnati’s record in games started by Burrow when its opponent runs on at least 50 percent of its snaps and possesses the football for at least 30 minutes. In all other Burrow starts, the Bengals are 40-21-1.
“We gotta sustain drives, and they’re a great offense, one of the best offenses in the NFL,” Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles said. “And us on offense, we gotta continue to stay on the field and have long drives to keep that freak-of-nature quarterback off the field.”
22-8-1
That’s the record of the Bengals in Burrow’s starts when they force at least two turnovers. This includes a 20-5 record in such games since January 2022, and a 5-1 record this season — to contrast with a 2-7 ledger when the Bengals extract one or zero takeaways from the opponent.
But on the flip side of that, if the Broncos can protect the football, they should be set up well for success. Cincinnati has lost six-consecutive games started by Burrow in which the team failed to force a turnover, including an 0-4 mark this season.
20-8
Record of teams who run on at least 43.0 percent of their snaps in games against the Bengals with Burrow at quarterback. When teams do not run that often, they are 12-33-1 against the Burrow-guided Bengals.
