‘I Very Much Believe That’ – Bengals OC Brian Callahan Sees Playoffs in Team’s Reach

Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan returned from his weekend off cleanly shaved and exuding confidence.

Ditching the beard was symbolic of the new start he and the rest of the Bengals face after losing starting quarterback Joe Burrow to a wrist injury. The unrestrained confidence is a sign of his belief in the players and coaches and their ability to fight their way into a third consecutive playoff berth with backup Jake Browning running the offense.

“I very much believe that,” Callahan said when asked if he thinks the offense is still good enough to accomplish that. “I very much believe in the players we have. I don’t think for one second that we’re not capable of doing that.”

“We’ve got some good, tough teams we’re gonna play, but we’ve got good players everywhere. My expectations haven’t changed for the success I expect us to have,” Callahan continued. “And I think our guys feel confident in their abilities well. So yeah, I think we’re good enough to win enough games to get into the playoffs.”

Can the Bengals Still Make the Playoffs Without Joe Burrow?

If the Bengals can make it happen, it’s going to continue to be Browning’s show. The Bengals are still gathering all the information they can on Burrow’s wrist injury, and a surgery date has not been set.

Head coach Zac Taylor didn’t sound hopeful that Burrow would have a chance to return to action if the Bengals were to play deep into the postseason.

“I would not think so,” he said.

Callahan said his reaction to Burrow’s injury was the same as everyone else’s in that the prevailing emotion was disappointment for Burrow.

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“He works so hard at being the type of player that we need here,” Callahan said. “And for him to not be able to finish the season is obviously disappointing for him and for all of us.”

“But the show goes on, and you gotta figure out how to win games some way, somehow,” he added.

“He works so hard at, at being the type of player that we need here,” Callahan said. “And for him to not be able to finish the season is obviously disappointing for him and for all of us. You gotta turn your focus to the next one. It seems cold sometimes, but that’s the reality we live in. The games keep coming.”

Mathematically speaking, the chances of the Bengals right things and playing on the third weekend in January aren’t great, but neither are they damning. Since the NFL went to seven playoff spots per conference in 2020, there have been 12 teams that started 5-5, and five have made the playoffs (42%).

"We believe in Jake and that's why he's here and that's why he's getting this opportunity." pic.twitter.com/jtPFA3pgz3

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 20, 2023

If we go all the way back to 2002, when the current division alignment began, and there were six playoff teams per conference, it’s less encouraging. That list incudes 87 teams, with only 28 (32%) making the playoffs, including the 2012 Bengals.

Taylor said last week the entire playbook will remain available with Browning playing in place of Burrow, and Callahan went a little deeper today into the reason for that.

“They see the game pretty similarly,” he said. “I don’t think you need to cut anything back. He’s mentally capable of handling the system as it stands. If you were to ask him, he’d get irritated if you felt like you had to cut back at all.”

Callahan was speculating. He was recounting a moment from Thursday night’s 34-20 loss at Baltimore after Browning entered the game.

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“You’re just asking him what he likes, and he goes, ‘Just call it. I don’t care,'” Callahan said.

Already this season, an NFL-record 10 quarterbacks have started and won in their first season in the league. Though Browning has been in the league for years, he didn’t make his NFL debut until Week 1 and is classified as a first-year player who has elevated from backup to starter.

“There’s teams that win with backups all the time,” Callahan said. “I don’t think that because your backup quarterback is playing, you’re doomed. There’s a lot of guys that can play good football. You hope that everyone around them raises their game, and we’ve got to do our job as coaches, and then Jake’s gotta do his job as the quarterback.”

“I don’t look at it as an excuse,” Callahan continued. “Anytime you lose a player in any position, the expectation is that the backup goes in and plays well enough for you to win. And that’s the expectation that we have. There’s no sense of like, ‘We can’t do it.'”

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