Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals should put up another Sunday night shootout

Scouting The Offense

The Bengals offense has gone through significant changes since last seaso, yet not so much when it comes to skill position talent on the team. Most of the offensive starters from last year returned this year. However, the biggest changes have come along the line when the Bengals traded with the Buffalo Bills for left tackle Cordy Glenn.

This trade was a pretty big one for Cincinnati since Cedric Ogbuehi, the Bengals former first round pick, had struggled every year since he was drafted. Consequently the Bengals took the opportunity to upgrade. The trade has come with some mixed results with Glenn having posted a meager 56.4 according to Pro Football Focus. For a swap of first rounds and a third day pick in this past draft though, its hard to complain with the production they have gotten to this point.

Cincinnati’s first round pick Billy Price has also been a minor upgrade at a center position that has given the Bengals troubles over the past couple seasons. Price to this point has not reached his full potential given some injury concerns, but if his time at Ohio State is any indication, he will come into his own as time goes on.

Those two players alone are not what have cause the overall explosion in offensive production. The biggest change for this Bengals offense actually came last season when Cincinnati let go of offensive coordinator Ken Zampese. Zampese was let go after Week 2 of last season when the Bengals failed to score a single touchdown during those first two weeks of 2017. Bill Lazor was named the next offensive coordinator and finished the season ranked 22nd overall in Defense-adjusted Value Over Average, or DVOA as it is commonly call it.

This season Lazor was given the chance to install his own offense and so far it has been a great move. The Bengals have jumped from 22nd to eighth overall in DVOA. That is a huge improvement, and it has come from many contributors on the offense. Everyone already knows A.J. Green, but Tyler Boyd and Joe Mixon have both come into their own this season as well. The only negative the offense has really had this season was the loss of starting tight end Tyler Eifert.

With all this offensive firepower Andy Dalton is currently having one of his best seasons and is on pace currently to set a career high in touchdown passes. Dalton and company have done a good job getting off to a hot start this season, and they hope to continue it against a Chiefs defense that gave up 43 points this past Sunday.