Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase bright spots in Bengals winners and losers from Week 6
Eli Apple (at least in the first half)
Don't let his trash talk fool you -- Eli Apple had a bad day at the office on Sunday. He came up with a few big hits in the second half but the Saints were going after him throughout the game and it was pretty obvious as to why.
On that last drive before the half, Apple surrendered a 20-yard completion to Callaway on third-and-10 and a 15-yard completion on third-and-11. The Bengals allowed three different third-down conversions on passes.
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) October 16, 2022
Apple, for the most part, has been a good player for the Bengals but he does tend to have these kind of games where he gets roasted. The Saints went after him time and time again because it was working for them.
Fortunately for the Bengals, Apple made up for it and had the key stop on the final play of the game. That's why I put (at least in the first half) because while he did make some plays in the second half, Apple was hurting the Bengals in the first half for sure.
Bengals run defense
The Saints ran the ball for 228 yards. That's not a typo. They ran the ball for 228 yards and a touchdown against a Bengals defense that had been playing well up until that point.
Saints up to 166 rushing yards at the two-minute warning.
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) October 16, 2022
Most Cincinnati has allowed in the first half in the Zac Taylor era. Previous high was 164 yards (BAL, Week 6, 2019).
In the first half alone, New Orleans put up 166 rushing yards on the ground and what blew my mind is that the Bengals knew the Saints were going to run the ball; the Saints were without their starting three receivers, so obviously they're going to run the ball yet the Bengals couldn't stop it.
This HAS to improve down the stretch because in the bigger games and playoffs, teams won't hesitate to run the ball down a team's throat if it's working for them.