Bengals OC Brian Callahan: Pass protection has got…

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When a quarterback gets sacked nine times in a single game, it’s usually not a recipe for success.

Joe Burrow and the Bengals were able to overcome their significant pass protection issue to defeat the Titans 19-16 on Saturday to advance to the AFC Championship game. But there’s got to be some concern for the next round when the Chiefs also boast a strong interior pass rush led by defensive tackle Chris Jones.

On Monday, offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said there were a variety of reasons why Burrow was taken down so many times.

“There’s moments where we’re guys got beat one-on-one, you know, we’re playing against good players,” Callahan said, via Jake Rice of the team’s website. “There’s moments where Joe  tried to make a guy miss or hold the ball for a little longer. That’s part of what makes his game great so we live with some of those sacks.

“There was one or two that were communication-related. Just didn’t get calls out, playing on the road. Again, it’s a challenge sometimes, but we just have to be better there. Sometimes they were coverage-related too, we had guys that did a good job with their cover scheme in that game.”

Callahan credited Tennessee’s defense for being well-coached, which induced Burrow into holding the ball longer than he could’ve at times. And some of it was timing, too, because there were plays where Cincinnati wanted to take a shot downfield but the twists and games from the defensive front made that more difficult.

“Can we be smarter about holding the ball? If there’s an opportunity to get rid of it, we’d like to get rid of it,” Callahan said. “Then you just have to win one-on-one and sometimes guys are going to lose and again, we’re okay with that. It happens. But nine sacks is more than obviously you’d want to see in any particular game and it’s got to be better this week.”

While Burrow getting sacked nine times on Saturday is an eye-popping stat, it’s fairly in line with how Cincinnati protected Burrow during the regular season. While he never took that many in a single 2021 game, Burrow led the league by taking 51 sacks for 370 yards in 16 games.

The Bengals have to protect Burrow better in Sunday’s game against the Chiefs. But the team’s pass protection also must be addressed during the offseason, whenever it arrives for the club.