Even as Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow scrambled 47 yards to a touchdown Sunday night, one of his oldest teammates remembered seeing it before.
"Third or fourth grade. Against Logan," Adam Luehrman recalled Wednesday. "The final score was 6-0. That was it.
"He's not slow by any means," said Luehrman, who saw this one on TV like most everyone else. "He knew what he was doing as soon as that ball was snapped. What he was seeing … The least surprised was I'm sure Coach Smathers."
As in Sam Smathers, the ebullient coach of the fourth-grade Athen Bulldogs that day who taught Burow his first quarterback run. Smathers would text Burrow after watching him finish off the Giants, "I ran that play in youth football." He also took time to sift through his records and find the game.
"A 68-yarder. Had to be in 2006," Smathers reported Wednesday. "I would teach all my quarterbacks the same play. "QB Sneak on bump.' Very simple. It's youth football. You walk up to the line and if no one is over the center, or no linebacker in the pit, you make sure the line is set, get your hands underneath, bump the center, the center snaps the ball, and you two move. That's it."
Burrow joked a few weeks ago that he was "sneaky athletic,' after one of his disappearing completions out of the pocket in Carolina. Luehrman, his twin Ryan, and Burrow were the leads of Athens High School's football and basketball glory days in the previous decade, so Adam saw him do his All-State thing for years and says there's nothing sneaky about it.
"He ran it more than he would admit. He had a lot of (big runs) in high school for sure. It brought me some flashbacks and I'm sure for him, too," Luehrman said.
"Regional final. Columbus DeSales. He busted a couple wide open."
In Athens' 52-20 win, Burrow rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns. But that didn't give him much of a break in Monday night's weekly video games festival with his oldest friends, an ancient rite that has survived jobs, wives, kids, and all other vestiges of adulthood.
"It's his friends from when he essentially moved to Ohio," said Luehrman of a move that happened at the end of second grade. "Every signficant other, wife, girlfriend, fiancée knows Monday night is for video games. It takes his mind off football."
But as friends must, they gave him 20 years of grief for that run.
"The GPS had him for something like 19.9 (miles per hour)," said Luehrman, now officially in the married category. "And we're telling him he's so slow, he couldn't even break 20."
Then there is the touchdown celebration. "We always critique every one he does." But it was hard to figure out what exactly Burrow did after Sunday's run as he stood in the end zone. It appeared to be a flex.
"I think it was just mean facing," Luehrman said. "I don't know if I can put the words together to describe it."
Tough room. But he gave them some nostalgia.
"I would never say," Sam Smathers said, "Joe was sneaky athletic."
ON THE RUN
Thanks to Burrow's jaunt and running back Chase Brown's 30-yard touchdown run, the Bengals are in the top 12 in yards per rush at 4.6. It's their highest in the six years under Taylor. They had 12 rushing touchdowns all last season and six already this year.
Burrow likes what that means heading into Sunday's AFC North game in Cleveland (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's Local 12), where the Bengals are looking to solve a defense that has given them fits during the Burrow era.
In six games, Burrow has had some big ones against the Browns, throwing 10 touchdown passes against five interceptions versus Cleveland. But the Bengals are 1-5 and his passer rating of 86.4 is his lowest against any team he's played multiple games against but the Chargers, the team against which he made his NFL debut. On the other side, All-Pro pass rusher Myles Garrett has 12 sacks in 10 games against the Bengals.
But Garrett has never played a Burrow offense that has used as many double tight-end formations. They're at a 28.4% clip of their plays this year using "12," compared to about 12% during the four previous seasons.
"I think the way we're playing this year, stylistically, fits this division a little more," Burrow said after Wednesday's practice. "I think we'll be able to run the ball well on Sunday. I like the run game plan. We'll see how it plays out. We'll be ready to drop back 50 times if we need to, just like always, but it'd be nice to have a big-time game on the ground."
The best running game Burrow had against the Browns turned out to be the one they won late in the 2022 season with 136 yards on 5.2 yards per carry in a 23-10 win at Payor Stadium. That's the only time they've gone over 100 yards or more than 3,8 yards per carry with Burrow handing off against Cleveland.
"I think we're getting really creative in what we're doing in the run game. I think the coaches have put together great plans to attack each defense differently, depending on what they like to show, and have made great adaptations in game in the run game to find some explosive runs," Burrow said. "Credit to those guys. Our running backs are playing really well, breaking tackles, and our O-line is blocking really well in the run game. It's been a combination of a lot of things."
TEE BALL
Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase are tied for ninth in the Pro Football Focus wide receiver grades. Remember, Higgins (hamstring) missed the first two games, but in four games he's got 25 catches, more in six games played by Brandon Aiyuk, six by Amari Cooper, and five by Travis Kelce. Burrow loves how Higgins is dragging people after the catch.
"I think he's gotten better at that year to year. You really saw him flying for extra yards on Sunday," Burrow said of Higgins' mission. "He did a great job of doing that. The rookie Tee, his pop-up game wasn't quite as good, but now he gets hit and pops right back up. You don't have to hold your breath every time. His pop-up game has improved a lot. So that's been good to see."
With defenses constantly shading Chase, Higgins has only five fewer targets than Chase despite playing two fewer games.
"I think he's playing with a chip on his shoulder this year. I think his level of urgency since he came back has been high. He's been excited about his ability to go out and make plays this year, and he's continuing to show that he can," Burrow said.
"He's going to continue to get a lot of opportunities. When he gets the ball in his hands he's been lowering his shoulder and getting those extra 4-5 yards, which the way teams play us has been big. Big time player, makes big time plays in big time spots and he's going to continue to do that."
JOLTIN' JOE
Despite not throwing a touchdown or an interception Sunday night, Burrow (110.3) has a one-point lead over Baker Mayfield in the NFL passing tittle derby. He's in second place with 12 touchdown passes, three behind Mayfield, and remains in second behind rookie Jayden Daniels' 75.3% in completion percentage with 71.6.
After Sunday's game (19 of 28, 208 yards), Burrow said he felt himself get into a rhythm in the second half. But in sacking him a season-high four times, the Giants didn't give him much time to go downfield. According to Next Gen Stats, Burrow completed every pass he threw in the quick passing game against the Giants, going 12-12, 99 yards.
Yet Burrow averaged his second-longest time to throw of his career (3.10 seconds) which correlated with heavy pressure (16 pressures and four sacks for 47.1% pressure rate).
"You try to go into every game thinking the same way, playing the same way, and you adapt quickly depending on how the game is going," Burow said. "After about a drive or two, you get a feel for how well you're blocking them, how well you're going to run the ball, where the spaces, and the zones are so pretty quickly in the game, you're able to adapt."
TREY-MYLES
Saturday's game pits two of the three most prolific sackers of the decade with the Bengals' Trey Hendrickson (58) and the Browns' Myles Garrett (62). They trail their AFC North counterpart, Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt (66.5). Hendrickson won't be looking around Huntington Bank Field Sunday.
"Since I've been playing, I just take care of my job, my part of the defense. I don't worry about anybody on their team or anything," Hendrickson said. "Even the guys in front of me. It's studying film, knowing the defense, and then knowing the offense and letting the chips fall where they go."
Hendrickson comes in with five sacks after his double in New York last Sunday. Garrett has four. Among edges, they trail the Jets' Will McDonald (seven). Giants nose tackle Dexter Lawrence also has seven. Lions edge Aidan Hutchinson, out for the year with a broken leg, has 7.5.
At some point in the offseason, Hendrickson says he looks at film of the best edgers, and Garrett is on the list.
"See what moves are working, and what I could apply to my game. As far as in the season, it's more about sharpening your sword for the battle," Hendrickson said. "(Garrett is) very special. He's another guy that plays with an edge. Relentless as well. Nothing but high praise for him and what he's done. He's the Defensive Player of the Year, so he's special."
Hendrickson has an interesting matchup Sunday. According to Next Gen Stas, he has 31.8% of the Bengals' pressures this season, the highest pressure share among NFL pass rushers.
Hendrickson is pitted against Browns left tackle Jedrick Wills. In the three games he's played this season, Next Gen Stats says Wills has allowed 14 pressures on 97 pass-blocking snaps (14.4% pressure rate) for the third-highest pressure rate among left tackles.
SLANTS AND SCREENS
Wednesday's injury report was shorter than the ultra- competitive Hendrickson's fuse. Three of the four guys, Burrow (wrist), defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Jr. (thumb), and cornerback D.J. Ivey (knee) went full …
Cornerback DJ Turner (knee) went limited …
The Browns, on the other hand, had six starters limited, including their two best defenders: Garrett (Achilles) and cornerback Denzel Ward (hamstring)…
Bengals running backs lost their first fumble in nearly three years, since Dec. 5, 2021 at Paycor against the Chargers. Zack Moss broke the skein Sunday night in the third quarter and then Chase Brown just missed losing another one the play before his 30-yard touchdown run iced it.
Brown said running backs coach Justin Hill, whose first year was when the streak started, let them know it wasn't up to standards. And they already knew that.
"We know how important it is," Brown said. "We've always heard it 'You're carrying hopes and dreams.' 'Protect the ball, protect the team.' And that's the truth. You can't let the little mistakes beat you."
Hill decided to hang with Brown for one more play. If there had been another carry, Moss would have gotten it because Hill didn't want the fumble to be Moss' last carry.
"Life of a running back," Brown said. "Short-term memory." …
