The Bengals are packing up their 3-game losing streak and their certified pre-owned quarterback and heading to Lambeau Field for a game that their own mothers probably don’t think they can win. Well, I
am no man’s mother.
Here is how they can win on Sunday.
Get Flacco Up to Speed
40-year-old Joe Flacco needs to push the Wedding Crashers and Anchorman quotes to the side of his brain and learn what he needs to know to run the Bengals offense in a hurry.
If I were Zac Taylor, I would sit down with Flacco and ask him about his 3 or 4 favorite concepts. Then I would teach him how those concepts are implemented in our system and build the game plan around those few things, with lots of window dressing to confound the defense while remaining simple for our offense. You don’t have to run the whole offense. Just focus on what Flacco is most comfortable with.
Find Flacco Friends
The next step is getting Flacco on the same page with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. He needs to understand where those guys expect the ball to be placed to convert on some deep balls. Flacco has always had a cannon for an arm, but he has never had a pair of wideouts like 1 and 5. This could be fun.
Checkdowns can be big plays, too, so the game plan should utilize both Chase Brown and Noah Fant as pass protectors with check releases. Both Brown and Fant can take these five-yard passes and turn them into explosive plays.
Keep Flacco Upright
Of course, the evergreen caveat is “can you protect the quarterback?”
That is particularly true when you are playing Micah Parsons, Rashan Gary, and Lukas Van Ness.
The Bengals’ pass protection in the middle hasn’t been bad, but they have really struggled on the edges. Amarius Mims can bounce back, but Orlando Brown might need a little help
Possess the Football
Turnovers have been a huge contributor to the Bengals’ losing streak, and Flacco has been no stranger to interceptions this season either.
To win this week, they cannot afford to make that kind of error.
Flacco must be smart and avoid interceptions. The offense as a whole needs to hold onto the football.
Golden Boys
The defense has shown a lot of promise this season under Al Golden, but to win this week, they will really have to step up their game.
Here are the three things they must do to win this game
- 1. They need to stay on top of big plays and make the Packers drive the entire field.
- 2. They need to buckle down in the Red Zone and force field goals
- 3. They need to force turnovers.
