ARLINGTON, Texas \_ On a night the NFL paid homage to the cartoon characters of Springfield, the Bengals produced another of their Cincinnati buddy movies that continues to have their own devoted primetime audience.
The moment you start to talk about warrior quarterback Joe Burrow and another distinctly Burrowian effort he shares with the greats with that 75% passing for 369 yards and three touchdowns, you have to discuss wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase and the stunning ease with which he leads the world in everything.
During Monday night's 27-20 victory over the Cowboys here at AT&T Stadium, Chase glided back to the top of the Triple Crown stretch run with 14 catches and 177 yards even though old friend Mike Zimmer finally had all his weapons at his disposal for the first time this season.
Zimmer, the former Bengals defensive coordinator now chairing the Cowboys unit, watched as Chase slithered and swiveled through his Pro Bowl cornerback tandem of Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland. Chase beat Bland for both his touchdowns, including the 40-yard-catch-and-dash winner with 61 seconds left.
Michah Parsons, the Cowboys Pro Bowl rusher, spent the night looking like he was trying to pick up a bar of soap in the sink. Just when it looked like Parsons was about to hit him before Burrow unleashed, he was grabbing at air.
Parsons had 5.5 sacks and nine quarterback hits in the previous three games. On Monday he had two hits and no sacks working against rookie right tackle Amarius Mims before trying his luck with backup left tackle Cody Ford.
(Here's how. With the Bengals driving for the tying field goal, Parsons drilled Burrow through the shoulders, but not before Burrow whipped it just as fast to tight end Mike Gesicki slanting across the middle for 13 yards.)
"They as a defense, have been banged up all year and they got all of their guys back now," Burrow said, "They got Micah. They got Diggs. They got Bland. They got all of their guys, and you can feel it. It's a good, explosive front, it makes it tough. I like how we played."
Remember that stretch back in 2012-2013 when Zimmer held visiting Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, and Joe Flacco to a combined passer rating of barely 60 in the confines of Paycor Stadium?
Well, Burrow nearly doubled that with a 112 Monday.
With the Cowboys getting healthy, they were coming off a three-game stretch allowing two touchdown passes and a 76.2 passer rating. Then Burrow came to town and while it may have looked easy, Bengals head coach and play caller Zac Taylor knew it was anything but.
"Exhausting," Taylor called it.
Zimmer kept sending bodies at him and even though Burrow took a shot in the knee that had him post-game lame, they only got to him eight times as Burrow made Zimmer pay for the pressure with his two signatures. Quick throws and pocket acrobatics.
"Mims was doing a good job on him. Keeping that pocket wide so I could step up wide when I needed to," Burrow said. "They eventually moved him over to the left side and then I thought Cody did a good job. But it all starts with being firm inside and just getting hands on him and keeping that pocket wide so I can get up and out of that B-gap and I thought they did a good job of that tonight."
With Burrow exploiting the B Gap, he was able to go to Plan A.
Here's the thing. Even though he's the best receiver on the planet, they still got him the ball 14 times in a game wide receiver Tee Higgins had his two catches for 23 yards in the first half.
"Tee out there makes teams play a little honest. Teams are going to mix up the coverages against us, they always do. I think our coaches are some of the best in the league at identifying what teams are trying to do to us and adjusting on the fly," Burrow said. "Coming into this game, I was going to feed Ja'Marr. I felt in last week he had some opportunities last week that we didn't quite take advantage of. So I was just going to make sure if I got an opportunity with him, I was going to give it to him."
Vintage Zimmer. He relied on his corners to hold up while he brought the pressure. But this is how the greats respect the great. Diggs and Bland backed off Chase because of his speed and he still killed them in space.
"Zac did a good job just moving me around and getting me good matchups all day," Chase said. "The DBs were playing off a lot. I really didn't see a lot of press today…I just had good matchups all day."
While Burrow and Chase buddied up again, Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo quietly dialed up his unit's best fourth quarter of the season, when they kept it 20-20 by forcing back-to-back punts. It looked like Anarumo played more man than he has and rung up a few more pressures.
(Take a bow, safety Geno Stone. He not only had a pick, but two third-down blitzes that forced Cooper Rush to throw incompletions.)
But anytime you start talking about defense or the theater of the absurd punt block-botch, it always comes back to Burrow and Chase. Chase and Burrow. The Bengals' buddy movie.
Last week after a practice, Bengals rookie wide receiver Isaiah Williams talked about how much he looked up to Chase and how badly he wants to emulate his game.
"I want to be effortless like that," Williams said.
And that's what his first touchdown looked like. Burrow flipped a five-yarder to the right front pylon as Chase got entangled in Bland's chest before he suddenly separated.
Burrow took umbrage when told it looked as easy as the winning throw.
"It looks simple. It's tough to execute. That's just a timing route we worked on a lot that is not easy," Burrow said. "He made a great catch, physical off the top of his route. That's one you have to throw on time and to the right spot. That's something we worked a lot of times to see that executed."
Like any buddy movie, they can't see making a film with anybody else.
Burrow: "We feed off each other. We make each other better. We are both really smart players. It is tough to take that away when you have a really smart receiver that you can move around and do a lot of things with. Hopefully, we can play together as long as we are in this league together."
Chase includes Higgins in the cast.
"I try not to think too much about it," Chase said. That's really out of my control. I wish I could sign Tee, myself, and have him here with me for eternity."
After dropping dimes all night, Burrow dropped what the press took to be a bombshell when he casually mentioned he thinks the Bengals can re-sign the franchise free-agent Higgins in the offseason.
"Those discussions are ongoing. I'm confident we are going to be able to do what it takes to bring Tee back. I know that I am going to do what it takes to get him back," Burrow said. "So he can have those talks; those are going to be offseason discussions. I think we are excited about that opportunity."
He also threw in a "We don't know," and a "We'll see." What they do know is that the nation is watching and believing in an offense averaging 27.8 points per game and on pace to crack the 2021 Super Bowl's team club record with 473 points.
What they also know in just 58 games, Chase has plowed through the Bengals record book with already more yards than Bob Trumpy, more touchdowns than Eddie Brown, and as many 100-yard games as Cris Collinsworth.
"That's how we play right now. That's how I like to play. When we play with the ball in my hands, I'll be able to make the play," said Burrow, who could have said the same thing about his buddy.