Back in September, after Joe Burrow continued to show off his newfound superpower, one that sparked the team’s run to Super Bowl LVI, the Bengals decided they didn’t want to see as much of it.
Rallying from double-digit deficits to level the score, or even climb ahead, is something Burrow did four times at LSU, including in the College Football Playoff championship game.
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But doing it in the NFL is not a sustainable way to succeed, and Burrow and the Bengals were finding that out the hard way when the calendar flipped to December last season, and they started finding themselves in that position on an uncomfortably regular basis.
They trailed by 14 in Week 14 against the 49ers before forcing overtime and ultimately losing. Three weeks later, they fell behind the Chiefs by 14 — on three separate occasions — before rallying to win 34-31 and clinch the AFC North Division. A few weeks after that, it was an 18-point comeback against the Chiefs to win the AFC Championship Game. And in Super Bowl LVI, the Bengals came back from 10 down to take the lead, which they held until 85 seconds remained.
Then 2022 picked up where 2021 stopped, with the Bengals erasing 14-point deficits against the Steelers and Cowboys, only to lose on the game’s final play both times.
That’s six times in an 11-game stretch that the Bengals were forced to wipe out double-digit deficits. Their record in those games? 2-4.
To flip the script, the Bengals had to script the flip.
During Burrow’s weekly news conference leading up to the Week 3 game at the Jets, I asked him if he would rather take the ball instead of deferring when the team wins the coin toss in an attempt to start fast and not have to play from behind.
“That’s not my decision,” Burrow said.
Right, but if it were?
“I’d probably like to take the ball every now and then,” he said. “I think the game goes a little differently if you go down and score.”
Since that day, the Bengals have elected to take the ball every time they win the coin toss rather than deferring, and the slow starts have morphed into turbo takeoffs.
From Week 3 through Week 18, the Bengals have scored touchdowns on their opening drive six times. The Vikings and Eagles each have a league-high seven. The Bengals are 6-0 in those games.
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“When we get a lead, we try to do whatever we can to step on their throat,” running back Joe Mixon said.
The Bengals won the coin toss in Week 1 and 2 and deferred. Since then, they have won the toss four times, elected to receive each time and scored an opening-drive touchdown each time (see table below) — although only three are official with the cancelation of the Bills game.
| Game | Opening Drive |
|---|---|
Week 3 at Jets | 75 yards in 11 plays (Samaje Perine 12-yard touchdown pass from Burrow) |
Week 7 vs. Falcons | 84 yards in four plays (Tyler Boyd 60-yard touchdown pass from Burrow) |
Week 13 vs. Chiefs | 75 yards in 11 plays (Burrow 4-yard run) |
Week 17 vs. Bills | 75 yards in six plays (Boyd 14-yard pass from Burrow) |
Despite that success, Zac Taylor said there has not been a philosophical shift in terms of decision-making when winning the coin toss.
“It’s game to game,” he said. “I won’t tell you what we were going to do last game if we had the opportunity to win it or say it.”
The Ravens won the toss in Week 18 and became the first Bengals opponent to elect to receive rather than defer. They punted after four plays, and the Bengals drove for 63 yards for a field goal, upping their record to 9-0 this year in games in which they score first.
Dating back to last year, the Bengals have won 13 consecutive games when scoring first, including last year’s playoff game against the Titans. Going back to 2020, they’ve won 16 of 17 when they get the first points.
“It’s really mental,” wide receiver Tee Higgins said. “If you’ve got an early lead, you’ve got to keep your foot on the gas. You can’t let up, especially in the playoffs. You can’t show nobody no mercy.”
Taylor was quick to point out his team plays well regardless of who gets the first points, but he built on Higgins’ premise that the advantage for the Bengals goes beyond simple math, that there is a mindset this group embraces while playing with the lead.
“There is an element where when you get a lead, and you’ve got a good team, there is something that comes with that,” Taylor said. “And our guys take advantage of the mentality of those moments. I think we’ve responded really well when we do take an early lead.”
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Many times it’s not even about scoring first, just scoring early. When the Bengals score a touchdown in the first quarter, regardless of whether the opponent already has points, they are 9-0 this year. The only team who went undefeated in the regular season when getting a first-quarter touchdown was the Jets, who were a modest 2-0.
Three teams have more games in which they have scored a touchdown in the first quarter. The Bills have 11 (8-3), Vikings 10 (9-1) and Eagles 10 (8-2).
Dating back to last year, the Bengals have won 13 consecutive games in which they score a first-quarter touchdown, and 15 of 17 for the league’s best winning percentage during that time frame.
The only two games the last two seasons in which the Bengals scored a touchdown in the first quarter and still lost came in 2021 — Week 9 against the Browns and Week 5 against the Packers in overtime.
Knowing Burrow has the ability to lead the team back from big deficits is a solid insurance policy, but it’s one the Bengals would rather not have to cash. They have an offense that can get hot at any time, but the earlier the better, because a lot of teams don’t have the rally ability they possess.
“It’s hard for a team to keep up with us unless you’re just a firepower offense,” Mixon said. “With the big weapons we’ve got and the way we play football now, we able to score any drive.”
(Photo of Joe Burrow: Joseph Maiorana / USA Today)