Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and offensive coordinator Brian Callahan haven’t let the Joe Burrow-led offense be very aggressive this season.
Reasons abound, but most of them loop to Burrow’s injured calf that robbed the team of meaningful summer reps, which meant a lack of new installs and timing for a new offensive line and the cast of weapons around it.
If nothing else, the concerning trend should change coming out of the bye week as the team gets ready to take on the San Francisco 49ers.
So far, though, a graph that illustrates how much the Bengals have derailed their own win probability by kicking or punting when data says they should have gone for it paints the coaching staff in a really bad light:
Zac Taylor lol pic.twitter.com/lcuK6ht5gt
— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) October 24, 2023
The Bengals are usually toward the left on this type of graph over the years, but this is a dramatic overcorrection while Burrow played through limited mobility.
Meaning, with Burrow nearing or already at 100 percent, the coaching staff should feel more comfortable getting more aggressive in to-go situations soon.
Almost as proof, onlookers saw on Wednesday that the Bengals were doing some rare under-center work during practice.
