The Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34-17 on Sunday in Madrid, Spain. The Bengals offense put on a show for the international crowd to improve to 6-2 on the season.
Andrei Iosivas has been on injured reserve since Week 3 with a torn ligament in his thumb. The injury required surgery, but the staff has indicated that he is close to making a return to the 53-man roster. When he does, it should not come at the expense of offensive snaps for Dohnte Meyers.
Meyers provides more of an explosive
weapon when he is in the lineup over Iosivas. When he goes into motion, that is something teams have to be cognizant of. His ability to take an end around or jet sweep when in motion is an added weapon that can help to open things up offensively. The Bengals were able to get one of these to Meyers early in the game on Sunday, and he proceeded to take it 16 yards before Jessie Bates was able to make a potential touchdown-saving stop.
Meyers has also started to develop some chemistry with Joe Burrow the last couple of weeks. We have seen big plays on a Burrow scramble each of the last two weeks. His ability to get open for his quarterback in those situations and make chunk plays should not go unnoticed. The one last week came in a critical moment with the Bengals needing to tie the game to send it to overtime against the Titans. The one this week was a big play that helped the Bengals add a field goal right before halftime to take a 24-10 lead.
What Meyers can do after the catch is something the Bengals don’t really have outside of Ja’Marr Chase in their offense. He can make guys miss out in space, and is one of the most elusive players on the roster. That element is a dynamic that needs to continue getting plenty of snaps each game, regardless of Andrei Iosivas eventually coming back to the lineup.
That doesn’t mean Iosivas doesn’t have a role at all on this team going forward, but I think Dohnte Meyers has overtaken his spot in the lineup as the third receiver. Meyers is also under contract going forward, whereas Iosivas is in the last year of his deal.
