Bengals @ Broncos · Week 9

WEEK 9 · FINAL

THE READ

Bengals edge Broncos by 3

A 3-point game to the end, and Bengals had it 30-27. Bo Nix threw for Broncos — 19/30, 288 yards, 4 TD, 3 INT — in a losing effort. Joe Burrow did the damage for Bengals — 11/19, 206 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT. Three weeks of this now from Chase Brown: 102 rushing yards a game, well clear of his 70 average. On the ground: Bengals 124, Broncos 21.

Zoe Bell The contrarian

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Bengals	-2.2	+1.7	-3.9	+2
Broncos	-5.7	+3.0	-8.6	-11

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

IN THE BOOTH

Jaylen Rivers The insider

Cincinnati just barely escaped Denver's best shot all season — Bo Nix threw 4 touchdown passes and nearly stole it — but the Broncos couldn't run at all (21 yards), and that's the thing you can't come back from, not when you're 1-8.

Sierra Vaughn Analyst · replying

Joe Burrow completed 11 of 19 and still won—he didn't need to be great, just steady enough while Cincinnati's ground game (124 yards) did the actual work, which is what winning looks like when you're not playing your best football.

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

Bo Nix

Broncos

19/30, 288 yards, 4 TD, 3 INT

Joe Burrow

Bengals

11/19, 206 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT

Jaylen Waddle

Broncos

6 catches, 152 yards, 2 TD

THE STORY SO FAR

📈 Chase Brown is in form: 102 rushing yards a game over his last three, against a season average of 70.

📉 Joe Burrow is still searching for it: 168 passing yards a game across his last three, against an average of 252.

WHAT DECIDED IT

On the ground Bengals 124, Broncos 21 Bengals

Through the air Broncos 288, Bengals 206 Broncos

Total yards Bengals 330, Broncos 309 Bengals

Giveaways Broncos 3, Bengals 2 Bengals

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 9 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Pass-heavy Pass 61% · Rush 39% · 24.5 scored, 28.4 allowed

7.9 yds/att 60.1% completions 4.2 yds/carry 353.2 yds/game 1.4 giveaways/game 3.9% sack rate last 5: 2-3

Primary weapon: Ja'Marr Chase WR — 32% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY HIGH

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 60 · Efficient Balance 89 Ball security 60 Back usage 32% QB runs 4.0/game

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 97 WR 88 TE 82 RB 80 OL 78 DL 84 LB 78 DB 82

Best: Ja'Marr Chase WR 99 Fastest: Ja'Marr Chase WR 96 SPD 4 at star dev or better

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season

Lions 🦁

Broncos · his last 8 games

Throws it Gives it away One back One target

Pass / run65% / 35% Points for / against20.4 — 31.6 Margin-11.2 Giveaways a game2.0 Sacks taken5.7% of dropbacks Lead backRJ Harvey · 13.8/g Top targetJaylen Waddle · 39% QB carries1.9 a game

KNOFLOCKINN$$

Bengals · his last 8 games

Balanced

Pass / run61% / 39% Points for / against21.5 — 26.5 Margin-5.0 Giveaways a game1.0 Sacks taken3.1% of dropbacks Lead backChase Brown · 14.8/g Top targetJa'Marr Chase · 33% QB carries2.6 a game

Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.

THE SERIES KNOFLOCKINN$$ against Lions 🦁 — the men, not the teams

KNOFLOCKINN$$ leads it 1-0. KNOFLOCKINN$$ won the last one.

1 meeting avg 30.0 — 27.0 biggest: 3 pts to KNOFLOCKINN$$

S2 · week 9 KNOFLOCKINN$$ 30 — 27 Lions 🦁 KNOFLOCKINN$$

Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Bengals receivers vs Broncos secondary 88 v 89 EVEN

Broncos receivers vs Bengals secondary 87 v 82 BRONCOS

Bengals line vs Broncos front 78 v 89 BRONCOS

Broncos line vs Bengals front 87 v 84 BRONCOS

Bengals backs vs Broncos run defence 80 v 86 BRONCOS

Broncos backs vs Bengals run defence 84 v 82 EVEN

Bengals passer vs Broncos secondary 97 v 89 BENGALS

Broncos passer vs Bengals secondary 89 v 82 BRONCOS

TOP PERFORMERS

Bo Nix QB Broncos 288 pass yds

Joe Burrow QB Bengals 206 pass yds

Jaylen Waddle WR Broncos 152 rec yds

Ja'Marr Chase WR Bengals 142 rec yds

Chase Brown HB Bengals 111 rush yds

Miles Scott FS Broncos 1 INTs

Kyle Dugger SS Bengals 1 INTs

Bryan Cook FS Bengals 1 INTs

Alex Singleton MIKE Broncos 1 INTs

Tacario Davis CB Bengals 1 INTs

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

BENGALS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Joe Burrow QB	11/19	206	2	2	1	49	91

BRONCOS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Bo Nix QB	19/30	288	4	3	2	80	94.8

BENGALS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG	FUM
Chase Brown HB	18	111	6.2	1	0	27	14	0
Joe Burrow QB	2	13	6.5	0	0	2	14	0

BRONCOS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	BTK	YAC	LNG
Bo Nix QB	1	11	11	0	0	11
RJ Harvey HB	11	10	0.9	0	11	11
Jaylen Waddle WR	0	0	0	1	0	0

BENGALS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
Ja'Marr Chase WR	7	142	20.3	1	28	49
Erick All Jr TE	2	49	24.5	0	11	35
Colbie Young WR	2	22	11	1	11	19
Tee Higgins WR	1	7	7	0	3	7

BRONCOS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
Jaylen Waddle WR	6	152	25.3	2	48	80
Troy Franklin WR	4	47	11.8	0	18	22
Evan Engram TE	3	44	14.7	0	5	25
Courtland Sutton WR	3	23	7.7	1	1	13
Marvin Mims Jr WR	1	16	16	0	0	16
RJ Harvey HB	2	6	3	1	1	4

BENGALS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD
Dax Hill CB	6	0	0	0
Jonathan Allen DT	5	1	0	0
Tacario Davis CB	4	0	1	0
Josh Newton CB	3	0	0	1
Shemar Stewart REDG	2	1	0	1
Kyle Dugger SS	2	0	1	2
Bryan Cook FS	1	0	1	0
Boye Mafe REDG	1	0	0	0
Barrett Carter MIKE	1	0	0	0
Dalton Brooks SS	1	0	0	0
Demetrius Knight Jr WILL	1	0	0	0

BRONCOS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD
Alex Singleton MIKE	3	0	1	0
Nik Bonitto REDG	2	1	0	0
Red Murdock WILL	2	0	0	0
Talanoa Hufanga SS	2	0	0	0
Patrick Surtain II CB	2	0	0	0
Miles Scott FS	1	0	1	0
Jordan Colbert SS	1	0	0	0
Christian Wilkins DT	1	0	0	0
Jonathon Cooper LEDG	1	0	0	0
Ja'Quan McMillian CB	1	0	0	0
Jahdae Barron CB	0	0	0	1

BENGALS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Evan McPherson K	1/1	3/4	48

BRONCOS

nothing recorded

RECENT FORM

Bengals

W 26–24 vs Browns WK 8

L 0–30 vs Raiders WK 7

W 45–27 vs Vikings WK 6

Broncos

L 13–51 vs Raiders WK 8

L 22–25 vs Steelers WK 7

L 25–37 vs Colts WK 6

TEAM STATS

Bengals		Broncos
330	TOTAL YARDS	309
206	PASSING YARDS	288
124	RUSHING YARDS	21
1	SACKS ALLOWED	2
2	SACKS MADE	1
2	GIVEAWAYS	3
3	TAKEAWAYS	2

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

1 BENGALS — 0 BRONCOS

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