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Film Breakdown: Here's Why the Cincinnati Bengals' Running Game is a Disaster

The Bengals are 3-5 on the year and their rushing attack has been awful.

Mike Santagata

Cincinnati Bengals halfback Chase Brown (30) is stopped by Baltimore Ravens safety Marcus Williams (32) in the NFL Week 5 the Sunday October 6, 2024 at Payor Stadium.
Cincinnati Bengals halfback Chase Brown (30) is stopped by Baltimore Ravens safety Marcus Williams (32) in the NFL Week 5 the Sunday October 6, 2024 at Payor Stadium. / Cara Owsley/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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The Bengals have the worst rushing offense in the entire NFL over the past four weeks according to expected points added per play and rushing success rate.

Their rushing success rate over the past four weeks is 19.2%. New England is next closest at 30.5%.

The Bengals have consistently had to play behind the sticks because they cannot run the ball. More than 80% of the time they are putting themselves in a worse situation after running the ball. That’s insane to deal with as an offense. The offense has still functioned and they are 2-2 over this period because the quarterback has risen above his surroundings and bailed them out of late down messes. Joe Burrow is 4th in EPA + CPOE composite rankings despite being thrust into mostly messy situations these past four weeks. Just last week Burrow had a 99th percentile performance on 3rd and 4th down where he converted 75% of those despite having an average of more than six yards to go. However with all of that said, any quarterback could use a functioning run game to help them out and keep the pass rush off of them.

Let’s take a look at the film and figure out why this run game has been so bad:

Power Run Game

Over the past couple of seasons the Bengals have leaned more on a power run game. They will use pullers on counter and power concepts with the other linemen trying to get vertical displacement. Let’s look into why that’s not working:

Contrary to what it looks like, this play is almost a hit. There’s a great block from right tackle Amarius Mims here to knock the play side 3-technique over and climb to the second level. This allows right guard Alex Cappa to easily take it over. The goal is for left guard Cordell Volson to kick out the end and for left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. to lead up through the space between Volson and Cappa. The issue is that the hole is too small. Volson’s kickout block did not generate any movement so the play didn't work. They try to make the best of it by bouncing outside but it takes too long and the safety is there for support.

This is a similar concept, although this time they bring in the tight end. The first play was GT counter with a read to hold the backside end long enough for it to work. It didn’t work. Now the Bengals are running GY counter with the backside tackle sealing the backside end. It still doesn't work for them.

Despite awkward timing, the double team to the play side does it’s job to generate some vertical movement. The left tackle is able to get a piece of the Mike linebacker on this play as well. The kickout block is good enough that there is a hole for the tight end to wrap and lead through as well. The issue here is that the tight end gets crushed by the Will linebacker. The Will not only fills that hole, but also makes the stop. Both plays also start with an orbit motion which had an effect on the linebackers in the first play but here it does nothing.

Power was run just as poorly as counter against the Eagles. Again, it’s fairly close to being a successfully blocked play. Everything at the point of attack actually works on this play. The double team was sufficient and the initial strike from the right guard works as well. There’s a hole for the left guard to lead through. The back block from the center is the issue on this play. When making a back block the worst thing that could happen is for that defender to cross your face. Center Ted Karras gets his face crossed on this play and it ruins everything. His aiming point, hat placement, and upfield hand all got taken advantage of by the defender. Should be getting his helmet to the other side with a strong upfield hand.

It’s not an easy block to make on a 4i, but that’s why the left tackle is helping out to start. Volson whiffs at the second level too so maybe it doesn’t matter in the end, but that back block is why this looks like a complete mess. It screwed up the play beyond repair because the back is reading his puller. He doesn’t know that the play will be dead until he sees the center pushed back into the hole. Even though there’s room for a potential cut back that’s not part of the back’s read.

This is power again. How is it nearly November and guys are still missing assignments? There’s a good down block from Volson and a sufficient double team from Cody Ford and Drew Sample. It doesn’t look like the motion tight end thought that defensive end was getting doubled though. Instead of kicking out the stand up linebacker, he runs into his own guys. The right guard should be pulling and leading between the down block and the double team but instead he just runs into the tight end. Now there’s an unblocked linebacker sitting in that hole. Eventually the left tackle comes off and tries to get a piece of him but it’s a fruitless endeavor. All they needed on this play was two yards. They had it if the pullers just got to the correct spots.

Running Back’s Not Making The Most of Their Opportunities

The offensive line stunk on all of those counter and power plays but they’re not the only issue in this putrid running game. The running backs need to shoulder some blame as well for missing opportunities.

This is an iso concept with Sample leading up to the Mike linebacker. The blocking isn’t phenomenal from him, but there’s enough there that the back has room to lower his shoulder and plow forward just to the right of him. Instead, Zack Moss makes a confounding jump cut to nowhere that stops all of his momentum and he gets tackled for no gain. Not only is iso a concept that gets downhill quickly, but this is the low red zone. You need to play fast and finish forward. There’s no explanation on this concept or in this situation to stop all momentum and make a jump cut into the back of your offensive line. There’s one read on this play and it’s to the left or to the right of the iso block.

This long trap concept is blocked well! Volson makes an effective kickout, Sample makes an effective second level block, and this should be Chase Brown one on one with the safety. Instead of getting north and gaining yards, Brown bounces this and gains nothing. He had an opportunity to go one on one with a safety and instead ran into traffic. Sample’s leverage is telling him that a bounce would not work but instead of trusting his blocks, Brown trusted his athleticism. It didn’t work.

The Bengals needed just two yards for a first down on this inside zone play. The defensive line slants to the play side so this is going to get cut back. The issue is that Brown cut it too far back. It looked like his best bet on this play was the B gap to the left of Volson but instead he tries to cut it all the way back. Back-to-back examples of too much East-West running and not enough North-South running from him. There’s probably going to be a linebacker able to make a play on Brown if he cut it up behind Volson, but these backs need to be able to either make that man miss or finish forward and pick up two yards. It’s not hard to figure out why both running backs averaged worst than -1 rushing yards over expectation per carry.

Overall Thoughts

So what’s the issue? Is it blocking? The backs? The scheme? I’d say everything is a problem at the moment. The blocking is terrible enough on some plays that there’s nothing anyone could do as the ball carrier. They could stand to improve their interior offensive line in either athleticism or in their ability to move defenders. Most players are just playing for advantageous stalemates when blocking one-on-one, but you need to be athletic enough to get to those positions on time. They're running a lot of concepts that are supposed to play into these linemen's strengths. It's not working and they need to play better.

The backs also need to play better because there’s examples that have nothing to do with the offensive line. They’re not making anyone miss, they’re missing openings, and they’re not finishing forward through contact. Those are the three biggest parts of playing running back. If they won't make anyone miss they need to at least start finishing forward through contact and taking what's there. There's running backs on the street that can do that job.

The scheme has been a bit predictable in the run game too. The only thing that the Bengals ever do with the tight end motion is a kickout block. That was fine in Weeks 1-4 when the team was figuring out if it worked but it’s Week 8. They need to have plays that work off of that look now. Split inside zone to the opposite direction, a Y slide RPO or Y slide naked keeper to bluff that block and get the tight end in the open field, play action from that look, etc.

The idea is moving into half baked territory, which is sad because it was a really good idea early in the season. They just never built anything off of it to attack defenses cheating toward the motion. The whole unit has been a travesty these past four weeks and it has put more and more on Burrow’s shoulders to just bail them out. They don’t need to have one of the best run games in the entire NFL, but can they at least be functional?

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Mike Santagata
MIKE SANTAGATA

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