Bengals O-Line Guru Jim McNally Called To Canton; Joe Knows Bo; Encouraging Words for OTs Brown and Mims | QUICK HITS

Jump to a story section:

Back in the day when Bengals offensive line coach Jim McNally mentored left tackle Anthony Munoz during a Pro Football Hall of Fame career, sometimes he would point to Munoz and tell the nearest bystander, "Best who ever lived."

Now McNally joins Munoz in Canton as part of the Hall's annual Awards of Excellence program recognizing significant contributors to the game in "behind-the-scenes" roles such as assistant coaches, athletic trainers, equipment managers, film/video directors, and public relations directors.

The Hall on Tuesday announced the 2025 assistant coach class of McNally and long-time running back coaches Elijah Pitts and Dick Hoak.

"It has to be the highlight. There's nowhere else you can go if you're an assistant coach," said McNally as he reflected on his star-studded 43-year-career. "It's the highest award you can get."

McNally, 81, rose to fame as one of the founding fathers of modern offensive line play during his 15 seasons with the Bengals from 1980-94 that included two Super Bowl berths and one of the greatest lines ever that spawned back-to-back NFL rushing titles for an offense that had seven straight top-five finishes from 1984-90.

"I want to thank that offensive line of the '80s. I can name them," McNally said. "Munoz. (Bruce) Reimers. (Bruce) Kozerski. (Max) Montoya. (Joe) Walter."

There was also Brian Blados and David Douglas who came off the bench at various junctures during a stretch quarterback Boomer Esiason won an NFL passing title and James Brooks and Ickey Woods combined for four 1,000-yard seasons.

McNally's NFL career began with the drafting of Munoz and ended in the Joe Burrow Era. In between stints with the Bengals, he helped build the expansion Carolina Panthers and then helped mentor a young quarterbacks coach named Sean Payton while leading the Giants offensive line to a Super Bowl before going back to his hometown to Buffalo to coach the Bills offensive line.

After serving as a consultant for Payton's Saints and later the Jets, McNally came back home to consult with the Bengals for a decade. As one of the first gurus who left countless marks at clinics and camps, he's never retired and is a constant on-line presence continuing to be an influencer in line play.

"There's a lot of general thank yous. Especially to (Bengals president) Mike Brown," McNally said. "He brought me back."

A cocktail dinner and awards luncheon to honor McNally, Pitts, and Hoak is set for Canton June 25-26.

JOE AND BO

Saturday's game (4:30 p.m.-Cincinnati's FOX 19 and NFL Network) features a rematch with Bengals quarterback and MVP candidate Joe Burrow and Broncos quarterback and rookie of the year candidate Bo Nix.

When they met on Oct. 26, 2019 at LSU, Burrow was on his way to the Heisman Trophy and leading the Tigers to an undefeated national title season.

Only a freshman for Auburn, Nix brought the Tigers close before losing, 23-20, despite missing on 20 of 35 passes for 157 yards.

Both threw for a touchdown and a pick that day, but Burrow was Burrowesque with 76% passing and a 143.5 passer rating.

Nix is in the middle of the pack and nowhere near Burrow's league-leading passing numbers, but he has steered the Broncos to the brink of the playoffs with a sound 87.7 passer rating consisting of 22 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and an ability not to betray a dominant defense.

Burrow knows Nix, they've reached out, and he enjoys watching the rookie.

"I had a chance to watch them on TV a couple times this year, and they do a good job on offense running the ball, play action," Burrow said "When he's asked to drop back and make plays, he seems to consistently make them. I think he's got a much stronger arm than people thought.

"It's always nice to see guys that you competed against and known for a long time to continue to improve and put themselves in good position to have a career."

The Bengals are impressed with how Nix moves in and out of the pocket while throwing, and it has caught defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo's eye that he's got 376 rushing yards and four touchdowns. And they're not all scrambles or called runs.

"It's a combination of both. They run a bunch of nakeds and boots and things and if it's not there, he'll go," said Anarumo before Tuesday's walkthrough. "They'll have design runs for him and then certainly if it's just drop-back passes and he sees an escape lane like most of the quarterbacks these days. But this guy is a good athlete. He's got damn near 400 yards rushing, so he can go"

SECOND WIND

A month ago, Bengals cornerback Marco Wilson was playing nine snaps for a Patriots team sniffing the first pick in the draft after a loss to the Raiders. After Wilson helped the Bengals contain Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy last Sunday, he's smelling a playoff shot.

"It's the NFL. It's a hard place to win," said Wilson, who has won 14 games since he made the playoffs with the 2021 Cardinals as a rookie fourth-round pick. "I'm just blessed to be somewhere we've got an opportunity to win."

Wilson, picked off waivers the week of the Nov. 17 loss in L.A. to the Chargers when DJ Turner suffered a season-ending collarbone injury, played five snaps in the win over Tennessee last week and eight in the win over the Browns last Sunday.

But in each game they had Wilson shadowing the other club's most dangerous receiver on passing downs because of his speed. He held the Titans' Calvin Ridley to a catch for 14 yards and helped cool off Jeudy, who came in with more receiving yards than Ja’Marr Chase in the last month. With Wilson going step-for-step with Jeudy, the receiver finished with two catches for 20 yards.

"He's a guy that our scouting department did a great job identifying," Anarumo said. "He's got a great coverage skillset. He can really run. He's sticky in coverage. He's around his guy all the time and he's a super smart guy, great personality. Love everything about him."

Wilson had already played Ridley and Jeudy. In seven-on-seven in high school.

"I love going against guys from south Florida," said Wilson, a Fort Lauderdale native. "Best talent."

Anarumo and cornerbacks coach Charles Burks love Wilson's speed and it allows them to go into matchup mode with Cam Taylor-Britt taking the bigger guys and rookie Josh Newton taking on the shiftier guys. That could mean on Saturday Wilson gets Broncos rookie Troy Franklin. Or maybe even Marvin Mims, who has 26 catches but one for a 93-yard touchdown.

"The big thing is eye discipline," Wilson said. "They do a good job with the deep ball. Their quarterback can get out of the pocket, so we have to watch that. He doesn't make the mistakes rookie quarterbacks usually make. We have to make him make mistakes."

SLANTS AND SCREENS

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is encouraged about his starting tackles. Left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., (fibula), who has missed six of the last seven games, and right tackle Amarius Mims (hand/ankle), who left in the third quarter of last Sunday's game, were both listed as limited in the Tuesday walkthrough.

Their status is estimated because it was a walkthrough, but before they hit the field Taylor said he feels good about getting them back to work …

In the nick of time.

The Broncos have three edge/defensive linemen who are in the top 20 in pressures, per Pro Football Reference. Tweener Zach Allen, a 285-pound hybrid, is fourth with 40 pressures, and outside backers Nick Bontito (32) and Jonathan Cooper (27) are 12^th and 20^th, respectively.

"They're quick. They get off the snap," Taylor said. "They get around the edge. They can work with power through guys, too. They just get that push, so the pocket can collapse and they just chase you down and there's not a lot of places to exit for the quarterback." …

The Bengals held a walk-through Tuesday at the IEL Indoor Facility 48 hours after the win over the Browns and four days before the Denver game. Taylor said he can't worry that Denver has a mini-bye after its Dec. 19 loss to the Chargers and has nine days between games. The Bengals would have had that mini-bye if their Dec. 19 game against the Browns hadn't been flexed.

"It's what the schedule is," Taylor said. "We could have helped ourselves by playing last Thursday had we played better. It is what it is. You just have to get your team ready and they'll get their team ready." …