Before the win over the Miami Dolphins, we wrote that the Chase Brown-led running game was quietly the Cincinnati Bengals’ biggest problem on offense.
Turns out the Bengals quietly agreed.
During the win over the Dolphins, the Bengals gave Brown 13 carries and he earned 39 yards on a 3.0 average. The offense gave Samaje Perine 14 carries and he chunked out 68 yards on a 4.9 average.
Now going into the bye, questions about the split keep coming up, so offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher got out in front of those.
“I think we’ll continually assess how that touch share between (Perine) and Chase Brown should play out,” Pitcher told Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “Every game’s different. What type of scheme we lean into is going to factor into that. Obviously,
what we ran more of yesterday leans into what Samaje does well, which is get downhill and run through contact.”
The Bengals mostly ditched the under-center stuff they spent a bulk of the summer installing. That tends to favor Perine’s style as a runner, while also utilizing Brown as a pass-catching threat.
For obvious reasons, the Bengals will keep saying publicly that the approach will vary by the opponent. But if the offense keeps clicking better out of the shotgun in a way that opens up an explosive running game, as it did in 2022, it’s pretty obvious what they will do.
None of this ends the idea the Bengals should probably go look for some outside help, all things considered. But when it comes to Brown and Perine, it’s hard not to think that the offense in Miami was a major preview of what the offense will look like coming out of the bye, too.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals address Chase Brown, Samaje Perine split and changing offense
