This article is part of our NFL Observations series.
That was the worst of both worlds as I had the Bengals -7.5 but was rooting for the Jaguars to beat them for Survivor purposes. And I also had D.J. Chark.
There were two inflection points that really turned this game -- the stuff at 4th-and-goal at the end of the first half, and on the final drive where the Jaguars had Burrow sacked on third down but for a defensive hold. (I was watching the edited version, so I didn't see how legit the call was on replay.)
In any event, given how I survived last week, I can only say the Bengals were a brilliant survivor pick, given their current 100 percent chance to advance this week.
- The loss of Chark (ankle) is significant as he's their field stretcher, but Trevor Lawrence looked like the No. 1 overall, generational prospect to me. He was agile and fast, and showed nice touch on his throws.
- After two games those who took James Robinson (18-78-2, 2-1--2-0) in the third round were panicking. Not anymore. He's a tough inside runner with enough wiggle who's getting the work.
- Laviska Shenault (7-6-99-0) made plays all night and looks like Lawrence's top target, though Marvin Jones (3-3-24-0) has to see more work too. Newly acquired Dan Arnold (2-2-29-0) looked promising as a potential source of targets too.
- Urban Meyer punted on 4th-and-4 from midfield to give the Bengals (who had scored 21 points in the half already) the ball back for the final drive. What a nutless monkey.
- Joe Burrow stayed poised the entire game, got 10.9 YPA, took only one sack and didn't turn the ball over. I was positive the Bengals would win after Meyer's punt.
- Joe Mixon (16-67-1, 2-1-0) ran hard, but there wasn't much room. The Bengals run blocking isn't good.
- Tyler Boyd (11-9-118-0) was Burrow's top target, and he did what he does, getting open in the short areas and making first downs.
- C.J. Uzomah (6-5-95-2) showed some nice moves in the open field for a tight end, but there's a good chance he won't have another game anywhere near as productive this year, especially when Tee Higgins comes back.
- Ja'Marr Chase (9-6-77) had a couple moments, but it seemed the Jaguars were (wisely) geared on taking him away.
- I asked Jeff Erickson to predict a target number for Chase on the SXM show yesterday, and he said nine. (Blind squirrel or gift of prophecy? You decide.)
- I really wanted to see the Bengals go down for Survivor purposes. But patience and willingness to suffer are the two qualities one needs for that game, not attachment to immediate results.
