Sunday | 4:25 ET
In what could be a Super Bowl preview, Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals will travel to San Fransisco to face off against the 49ers on Sunday. The Bengals got off to a slow start thanks to Burrow’s training camp calf injury, but he looked pretty healthy in Week 6 and is coming off of a bye week. Cincinnati will try to reestablish themselves as a top-tier NFL team in a marquee matchup against the vaunted 49ers, who rank 2nd in the NFL in overall PFF grade. However, they will most likely be without their starting quarterback, Brock Purdy. Sam Darnold would have to step in, on an offense that is already without star wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
The Bengals started off the season very poorly on offense, and the metrics still show this. However, Joe Burrow seems to be healthy now, and the team is coming off of a 34 point performance against the Cardinals, and a 17 point game against a solid Seattle defense that was enough for the win. Still, the Cincinnati offense will be tasked with scoring on the insanely talented 49ers defense. Edge rusher Nick Bosa headlines the group, ranking 2nd in both PFF run defense and pass rush grade among edges in 2023. The Bengals offense line will have to step up against him, Javon Hargrave, and Arik Armstead. The 49ers know how to get to the quarterback, and can easily take over the game this way.
When the 49ers have the ball, things could look a bit different. With Darnold under center, the offense may look a little less seamless than it normally does. Fortunately for them, the Bengals defense has underperformed up to this point. It ranks 29th in both coverage and run defense grades according to PFF. Trey Hendrickson is great at times off of the edge, but the unit lacks star-power. The cornerback position is a weakness for the team, so I’m sure that Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan will find a way to exploit this.
Interestingly, the Bengals have given up the least yards after catch in the entire NFL this year. San Fransisco’s west coast offense relies upon YAC, ranking fifth in YAC per completion this year. Without Deebo Samuel, they already were losing a top contributor to the category. Combine that with a matchup against a defense that is quick to tackle receivers and an injury to the starting quarterback, and the 49ers just might have a three-game losing streak on their hands.
I wasn’t planning on picking the upset, but I changed my mind while writing the piece. Week 8 is a perfect storm for the Bengals. I believe that Burrow is now healthy, while the 49ers are down Purdy and Deebo. Cincinnati has won two in a row, while San Fransisco has lost two in a row. I think the trends continue.