Bengals quarterback Jake Browning has always said, in Joe Burrowese, that if he sees his guys covered man-to-man, he's going to them no matter who, what, when, where.
And he's going to keep doing exactly that. Maybe a few tweaks on his contested balls, but he's still going to be gunning for wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, and his other weapons Sunday (4:25 p.m.-Cincinnati's FOX 19) against the Lions at Paycor Stadium.
Such was his biggest takeaway after analyzing Monday night's game against the Broncos.
On the game's first drive, the Bengals' best of the night, Browning stared at a third-and-two from the Denver 8.
Split out right, he had wide receiver Tee Higgins towering over cornerback Riley Moss one-on-one in the matchup that yielded 133 yards and three touchdowns in Cincinnati last season. But Higgins never got a shot to leave his feet on the fade.
"I didn't give Tee a chance," Browning said after the Wednesday walkthrough. "No deep ball has ever been completed that a receiver couldn't get to. Especially with a guy like Tee. I felt like I had two that stood out as not giving him a chance. I can see what I was trying to do, but I need to adjust how I'm throwing some of my 50-50 balls to him just to give him a shot at it. And so I would say that was the main takeaway."
On the next drive and the Bengals up 3-0, they had another third-and-two from their 38. This time Higgins was split left, but on Moss again. Browning went right for Higgins down the left sideline, but they couldn't connect as it went over his head.
Not a hard throw on third-and-two, Browning says. Not a hard call.
"They're easy decisions," he said. "I mean, if you want to come and play man, I'll take Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr all day long. I think I've got to give them a better chance on some of them, and the ones that I did, I think the outcome was positive. That kind of goes back to my main takeaway from the game is just giving our really good receivers opportunities on the 50-50 balls."
And if they're one-on-one Sunday, he's still going for them.