CINCINNATI — A word of warning to the Bengals and their faithful.
The winners of five straight aren’t about to play any old 6-7 team that is banged up on both sides of the ball.
They’re about to play arguably the greatest competitor in the history of the sport who will do everything in his tremendous power to elevate a group that has consistently underperformed this season.
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers present a unique challenge to these Bengals. The challenge is not to make Brady out to be deity while he’s on the field.
Yes, this is the first time Joe Burrow will be playing the quarterback that most people have compared him to since Burrow skyrocketed to success with the 2021 season. He’s going against a quarterback that has redefined the standards of excellence of the position. Tom Brady has seven Super Bowl rings, five Super Bowl MVPs and three NFL MVPs.
But his true excellence comes in the form of an unmatched competitive desire that drives him to compete in the NFL at the age of 45. Burrow put that in perspective Wednesday.
“He was drafted when I was four,” Burrow said. “So, all my memories of NFL football have him in it.”
What is it about Brady’s game that Burrow admires?
“He gets the ball out really fast. You know, he understands what he’s looking at,” Burrow said. “I think he epitomizes toughness at the quarterback position. And he’s a great leader. I mean, he’s the greatest of all time for a reason. He’s the total package.”
Despite the hype, Burrow knows the significance of this game beyond the marquis quarterbacks.
“It’s our 14th game of the season. You know, obviously, the greatest quarterback ever is on the other side, but we got a job to do too and our job is to go and win, get to 10-4 and move on,” Burrow said matter of factly.
“It is what it is. I don’t really pay attention to it. He’s Tom and I’m Joe,” Burrow said.
“He’s Tom and I’m Joe.” Joe Burrow on comparisons with Tom Brady. #Bengals. pic.twitter.com/VRGwSWwhTR
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) December 14, 2022
Anyone who wants an in-depth look to why winning matters so much to Brady should watch the 2021 docuseries “Man In The Arena”, a Brady-produced nine-part series on what has driven him over his career.
“Just hearing him talk about the way that he thinks about football,” Burrow told me. “You can kind of just understand what it takes to be a quarterback. It’s not just, you know, X’s and O’s. It’s a lot more than that. And I think that series and hearing him talk about the position of quarterback. He really explained it.”
Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan watched it. And didn’t just store it in his memory banks. He showed it to his team last season and used it to remind his players what it will take to win the ultimate prize.
“His sustained success over an incredible amount of time, I don’t know if it’ll ever be replicated,” Callahan noted. “He’s one of one at this point in terms of what he’s done over the length of his career. I do think his discipline, how he takes care of his body, how he approaches every week, that’s a great lesson for all players, quarterbacks in particular. Truthfully, I used a lot of his documentary last year, the Man in the Arena.
“To listen to him talk about winning, preparation, what it takes to win a championship, what types of teams they had over those years, that’s a pretty incredible blue print to what it takes to have a championship team. He put it out there for everyone to see. People would be foolish to not watch that if you’re a competitor. I used a bunch of clips from that documentary because there’s no one who has ever won more than he has.
“I love watching him play, and the reason for it is the way he goes about his work every day. From the minute he gets into the building to the time he leaves, he prioritizes what it’s like to be a pro football player who wants to play at a high level for a long time. The discipline that takes is tremendous. It’s fun to be a fan of football and watch him. He’s one of my favorites to watch of all time. There’s a lot to learn from him for every player in football, especially a quarterback. He set the standard.”
Then there’s the desperation factor that Ted Karras, a teammate of Brady’s in New England from 2016-2019. It was at the end of that 2016 season that Karras witnessed first-hand Brady’s execution when there was no margin for error. In Super Bowl LI, the Patriots trailed 28-3 with 2:08 left in the third quarter. And the rest is history. Brady led the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history and won in overtime 34-28 on a TD by James White.
Karras was a rookie on that team and recalled what it was like to watch Brady in that mode.
“We were down 28-3 in the Super Bowl,” Karras said. “That’s pretty much backs against the wall, season’s coming to an end. I believed him. I never bet against Tom Brady and I know when you’re playing a team that’s led by him, you better be on your stuff.”
Ted Karras on Tom Brady playing with backs against the wall "there was 28-3." pic.twitter.com/C7iwUxsvP6
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) December 14, 2022
Burrow trailed 21-3 at Arrowhead in the AFC Championship and rallied to an improbable 27-24 overtime win, propelling the Bengals to Super LVI.
There was some encouraging news on the injury front with regard to the two dinged up wide receivers. Tyler Boyd was at practice on Wednesday with his middle two fingers on his left hand taped together. Whether he can play or not will be determined throughout the week as he looks to work with the restriction. Then there’s Tee Higgins, who tried to play through a hamstring issue last week. He went through drills and appears more likely to be available this Sunday at Tampa Bay.
“Yeah, we’ll see where the week goes with the hamstring and the finger,” Taylor said of Higgins and Boyd. “But they were both out there and so it seems positive today but we’ll take it day-to-day with both of those guys.”
On the defensive side of the ball, Joseph Ossai, assuming his injured shoulder is good enough to play, will get a much heavier work load this week with Trey Hendrickson out with a broken wrist.
“He’s done a good job for us,” Taylor said. “He’s continued to get better and better every week. We’ve got a lot of trust he can play some good snaps for us and be really effective.”
For most of the season, Ossai has been serving as the third man in on pass rushing downs and to spell Hendrickson when he needed a break. Now, he will be expected to step up his reps with Cam Sample right behind him in the rotation.
“He seemed like a veteran from when he walked in the door, the way that he handled himself and picked things up,” Taylor said of Sample. “He’s been able to serve different roles for us and he’s created a lot of value for himself there so it’s a good piece to have in the D-line room that he can do different jobs for us. We have a lot of confidence he can get the job done.”
Sample offers the extra versatility of being able to play on the outside and move inside for different defensive front looks.
“There’s a versatility there where he can serve those roles for us and really be a big help there on the edge,” Taylor said.
Another positive trend that appears to be repeating itself this season are the role players stepping up when given the opportunity. It’s why Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin and his front office didn’t panic and trade draft picks at the trade deadline when Ja’Marr Chase went down a week before. They didn’t knee jerk on a deal and overpay when Chido Awuzie was lost for the season 18 hours before the deadline on Halloween in Cleveland.
They didn’t panic when they lost DJ Reader. In every single situation, the Bengals believe in the quality depth on their roster. Every player in on the roster for a reason. And championship teams make use of all 69 players, 53 on the active and 16 on the practice squad.
“I think it just speaks to the depth of our roster and I’ve said this before what Duke and those scouts do to scourer the waiver wire and the cut downs make sure we’re getting people in the door that fit how we utilize our schemes,” Taylor said. “They are smart players and that’s really what has happened with this roster over the course of the season.”
While Ossai’s role will increase with Hendrickson healing, so too will those of Cam Sample and Josh Tupou and Zach Carter. We’ve already seen the significant contributions of Trenton Irwin in the passing game and Burrow’s expressed trust in him.
