After watching Chase Brown rush for his first career 100-yard game Sunday against the Raiders with a back-to-basics approach, Bengals running backs coach Justin Hill knows they’ll face a different set of circumstances Thursday night (8:15-Amazon Prime) in Baltimore.
But after three weeks of struggling in the ground game, Hill says Brown and his blockers can get a confidence boost with the Bengals’ most prolific individual run game in two years on Brown’s 27 carries for 120 yards for a meaty 4.4 yards per carry.
“Each defense is different and this one coming up is going to be different than the one we just saw,” Hill said Monday. “This was a good week (against the Raiders) to get downhill with our guards and center for double teams and get to the second level and let Chase be himself.”
That means allowing the 5-9, 205-pound burner to see a crease, pick it, hit it going full speed, and match his blockers going downhill.
“Just sticking to our bread-and-butter and the plays our guys are really good at with time on task,” Hill said. “Chase has got the acceleration and power to take advantage of those creases.”
Before the game, center Ted Karras talked about getting the run game back on track in simple terms: Realizing one missed block can blow up a play. After the game, he said that’s all it was.
“There was a more condensed list of runs,” Karras said. “But it came down to overall execution. Hat on a hat, executing, and Chase running really hard. He deserved the game ball. They had a lot of zany looks, but there was good communication.”
Brown says he fed off his blockers.
“We were efficient. That had been the point of emphasis,” Brown said. “We got after it downhill. The guys up front were moving people.”
The run game may look different Thursday, but they’ll stick with Chase for what promises to be a hard day’s night again probably without regular rotational running back Zack Moss (neck). Moss is still listed as did not practice on Monday’s estimated injury report after not playing Sunday and head coach Zac Taylor says they’re waiting on more information this week.
Backup Trayveon Williams didn’t get a carry Sunday on seven snaps and rookie Kendall Milton didn’t either on his first five NFL snaps and it’s hard to see them making any changes on third down against a Ravens defense with the fourth-most sacks in the league.
But while they’re not looking to pound Brown 27 times again, they believe he’s got a durable track record. He ran the ball more than 27 times in eight games while he was at Illinois and had a total of 14 games with at least 20 carries while building a career yards per carry of better than five.
Plus, he took a big shot last Sunday and scrambled to his feet to finish.
“He really took a bruise. A rib shot that ended up being a bad bruise,” Taylor said Monday. “He played through it. He did a great job coming out of it. I’m sure there’s soreness there today. With all the carries and the plays that he got, that was it.
“It’s important you can have a guy that can take some of the workload off of him, whether that’s a couple carries or that’s some other snaps in other areas. He has proven he’s a durable guy who can do a lot of stuff for us … We’ll always make the best decisions in how we can help him and help the offense and what fits in what situations for us.”
Taylor indicated he’s OK with Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin and his scouts finding a healthy veteran back.
“We’ve got to be open to everything. That’s what Duke and his staff do an excellent job of,” Taylor said. “Always making sure that we’re equipped with everything we need. Going through that process of seeing what’s available and where we can help ourselves in all areas. We’ll go there.”
