The 49ers and Bengals’ Week 8 matchup might have before the season looked like a possible Super Bowl matchup. After seven weeks it’s now a game both clubs need to keep their respective heads above water.
Both clubs got to this place, however, through very different means. The 49ers got off to a red-hot 5-0 start, but two sluggish outings in a row have dropped them to 5-2. Now they’re aiming to avoid a third-straight loss and falling way out of the hunt for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Meanwhile the Bengals started 1-3, but won two in a row before their bye week to get back to .500 and stay within shouting distance in the AFC North.
So are the Bengals really trending back toward Super Bowl contention? We got in touch with our dear friend and fellow queso lover Chris Roling, also just so happens to be the managing editor of the Bengals Wire, to chat with him about the 49ers’ Week 8 opponent:
Niners Wire: Is Joe Burrow getting back to normal?
Chris Roling: Burrow is 100 percent or as close to it as we’ve seen all season. He showed better mobility in the Week 5 win over Arizona, extending some plays and ultimately throwing three touchdowns. A week later, he was pretty much his normal self in the win over Seattle and now he’s had the bye week to rest up. There’s always a concern with this type of nagging injury that it resurfaces again, but there’s no reason to expect him to struggle anymore.
NW: Do you expect the downfield passing game to open up after the bye?
CR: It should keep gradually keep improving. Burrow missed camp, robbing them of summer reps and they had to work around his calf injury, so it wasn’t really an option – especially with how defenses cover the back end of the field now. Even a summer scheme change that forced wideouts to play every spot on the field slowed things down. All of that should be soothed over now, plus Tee Higgins should be much healthier on the fractured rib exiting the bye.
NW: How confident are you in the Bengals OL holding up Sunday?
CR: Pretty confident. It’s the best group of the Joe Burrow era. It got off to a slow start, especially against T.J. Watt, but has rounded into form. If there’s a big concern with the line it’s health, as Orlando Brown Jr. suffered a groin injury before the bye. Coaches sounded surprised he’s progressed as quickly as he has to even be able to play this week, so it’s something to watch.
NW: Can the Bengals defense carry them if the offense continues to be as up and down as it’s been this year?
CR: It will have to stop the slow starts and continue to clean up tackling issues, but yes, just as it has the last two seasons. Trey Hendrickson has efficiency rates as a pass-rusher in the Watt range and that’s a big part of it. But it sure helps that former first-rounder Dax Hill has been a steady presence as a Jessie Bates replacement who can move all over the field against tight ends and others. Cam Taylor-Britt has stepped up as a boundary corner, too.
NW: Who’s a non-Pro Bowler who needs to have a good game for Cincy on Sunday?
CR: Besides Hill, who will draw the George Kittle matchup often, it has to be nose tackle DJ Reader. The fact he’s never been a Pro Bowler is criminal given the way he breaks games open on his own. He’ll need to do so again on Sunday, influencing the where and how of the Christian McCaffrey-led rushing attack. Freeing up the pass-rushers on the edge and linebackers to get downhill like he can is almost impossible to scheme around.
NW: Hit me with a prediction.
CR: For a team breaking in a new secondary and line pieces and working around a quarterback injury that robbed them of summer reps that mattered, the Bengals have done really well to win two in a row. Which is to say the 49ers are catching them at a really bad time before you even tack on the injury issues confronting the hosts. Burrow should break this one open in the second half as the 49ers struggle to contain his cast of weapons. Bengals 27, 49ers 20
