Browning Is Not The Problem, McCarron Is Not The Solution
Syndication: The Enquirer
The Cincinnati Bengals’ 2023 season has been about as unexpectedly rough as anyone could have imagined. After a slow start of the season due to Joe Burrow’s calf injury, and now with Burrow being gone for the year due to a wrist injury, any chances of returning to the playoffs have pretty much disappeared. With Burrow’s injury, Cincinnati has now found itself in a tough situation at quarterback.
Anytime a team loses one of the best quarterbacks in the league and has to replace them with a backup, quarterback play will inherently be a problem as compared to the team’s former existence. So in that sense, yes, Jake Browning‘s play on Sunday was a problem. But that “problem” likely exists simply due to the gap and when analyzing realistic expectations and using honest assessments, the quarterback’s play is more in line with what should be expected from a backup than not. Although there are fans already clamoring for a change, a race to replace a player who has a chance to gain some important experience, in a likley lost season, is silly.
Jake Browning has had his good moments and his bad moments. He’s showcased that he’s a competent fill-in QB, but has also at times shown why he’s still an NFL backup. In his best moments, he showed nice touch on his throws and was serviceable in advancing the ball down the field.
JB to CHASE ‼️👀
Yes that’s JAKE BROWNING#RuleTheJungle pic.twitter.com/jF7OgQnqJy— WHO DEY est. 2000 (@dpainclain) November 26, 2023
In his worst moments, his decision making was either too slow or, in one unfortunate case, very poor.
Trenton Thompson with the INT 🙌
📲: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/T87FSnfvVk pic.twitter.com/WXRp8og2LC
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) November 26, 2023
Despite the turnover, Jake Browning was efficient in Sunday’s game. In a game where Pittsburgh shut down Cincy’s run game and forced Browning to throw, he was 19/26 for 227 yards with a touchdown to Drew Sample and the aforementioned interception. His quarterback rating of 96.2 was in the top ⅓ of NFL quarterbacks in Week 12.
In his first game action of the year against a stout Baltimore defense, Browning showcased the efficiency that Bengals fans would come to see against Pittsburgh. While his yardage total wasn’t astronomical, he kept the offense afloat, didn’t turn the ball over, and showed nice chemistry with Ja’Marr Chase for his first career TD pass.
https://twitter.com/stomblinder/status/1725370211187208257?s=46&t=vB54MT3mB4XJLNYxXtrE5g
Even with the decent performance, many Bengals fans already want to see a new player under center simply because they see that player through orange and black colored glasses.
AJ McCarron has to be better than Browning
— Bengals Graphics (@BengalsGraphic5) November 26, 2023
To his credit, when McCarron served as Andy Dalton’s replacement after his 2015 season ending thumb injury, he was fairly good. He had a 66.39 completion percentage, a 6:2 TD to INT ratio, and a 2-2 record as a starter. In the infamous Wild Card loss to Pittsburgh, he very nearly gave Cincinnati its first playoff win since 1991 despite struggling most of the game. Many Bengals fans vividly remember his clutch 4th quarter TD pass to AJ Green, who was arguably one of the three best receivers in the world at the time.
By far the most famous Touchdown pass in AJ McCarron's career, AJ TO AJ for the lead in the Wildcard game vs the Steelers on 1/9/16. McCarron notoriously had never played in rain & struggled most of the game but hit Green to give the #Bengals a lead. Turn it off after this play. pic.twitter.com/QwM8x0RuHl
— obscure bengals (@obscure_bengals) September 23, 2023
However, since then, McCarron has seen minimal playing time in the NFL. He bounced around the league as a backup from 2016-2021 with the Bengals, Bills, Raiders, Texans, and Falcons. His one start, a 2019 start for the Texans, was a 35-14 loss. In the game, he completed 21 out of 37 passes for 225 yards and an interception.
Since his TD pass to AJ Green in the 2016 Wild Card game, McCarron has not thrown a single NFL touchdown.
After playing well in the XFL with the St. Louis Battlehawks, he was signed to the Bengals’ practice squad. It’s always a nice story when an XFL player gets signed to the NFL, but those players rarely make a substantial impact when they get signed to the league. Nostalgia aside, there is little reason to believe that McCarron will be a significant upgrade from Browning.
The need for a change at quarterback is not as dire as many fans may believe. Browning’s job at quarterback for the remainder of the season is to get comfortable in his role, keep the team competitive, and manage games. So far, he’s done exactly that. Urgent quarterback changes are needed in the event of ungodly poor, inefficient, and turnover prone QB play, and Browning is not exactly Zach Wilsoning or Mac Jonesing it out there.
The Bengals, a team known for its desire for stability, will likely stick with the Washington product for the remainder of the season. It’ll allow him to get in-game experience to prepare for his future as Joe Burrow’s backup when he gets healthy again.
While it is not an easy thing to hear, especially given the success of the Bengals’ previous two seasons, Cincinnati is extremely unlikely to make the postseason this year. While some people will desperately call for McCarron with the hope that he might miraculously get the Bengals back in the playoff race, a change under center is extremely unlikely. Starting AJ McCarron would be a lateral move that would only serve to appease the fan base. It would also do nothing for the future of the organization, as McCarron is on the wrong side of 30. The best thing the Bengals can do at this point is fully prepare themselves for the 2024 season. One way they can prepare for that is by giving their backup QB of the future, Jake Browning, a healthy dose of in-game experience.
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