Joe Burrow has established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the game quickly in his career. He is included in the most elite tier of the most valuable position in the sport. This season has been a struggle for the young franchise quarterback, as he has struggled to play through a calf injury. Instead of being one of the best passers in the NFL, he has been among the worst.

His injury was limiting his movement, and had caused the offense to focus on short passes that could be made quickly. The change has been so drastic that his average depth of target had dropped almost a full yard (7.2 to 6.3) heading into week five. This Bengals offense thrived out of spread formations in past years, with nobody in the backfield. They led the league in pass attempts out of that formation last year. That has seen a huge drop this year as the team is unwilling to put Burrow in harm’s way.

Much of that changed last week against the Arizona Cardinals. Burrow had a breakout game. He rediscovered intermediate throws (10-19 yards) and even completed a deep pass. His depth of target jumped back up to 7.1, and he threw for over 300 yards and connected on 3 TDs.

An optimistic Seahawks fan might point to the game coming against the Cardinals, but that logic does not really hold given the Bengals had been crushed by the Titans just one week prior. More likely, Burrow is feeling better, and Seattle will get the best version of him so far this season this weekend.

That is the difference between facing one of the worst offenses in football and facing one of the most dangerous. Burrow and his receiving crew have been that good in past years.

The Seahawks passing defense has been one of the worst in football prior to their last game. They had given up at least 316 yards passing in each game, and a bushel of passing touchdowns. Their pass rush was questionable and their coverage was just bad.

That changed dramatically against the Giants on Monday Night Football. Devon Witherspoon announced himself to the NFL world with a performance that earned him NFC Defensive Player of the Week. Riq Woolen returned to the lineup. Julian Love played his second strong game in a row. Quandre Diggs had a pick. The pass rush led the NFL in pressures for the second straight week, and totaled 11 sacks in all.

Doing it against the woeful Giants certainly merits an asterisk, but it’s not like the Panthers were light years better the week before and Seattle did not look close to the same in that game.

Seattle is also expected to get back Jamal Adams and Tre Brown from concussions this week, making them more dangerous in coverage and in rushing the passer.

This matchup between a resurgent passing attack in Cincy and an ascending pass defense in Seattle figured to be a central storyline in this game.

I like the Seahawks matchups in this game. They face another poorly performing offensive line, and are going to create disguise pressure better with both Adams and Witherspoon available. The Bengals favor quick passes that have frustrated Seattle coverage, and have a receiver in Ja’Marr Chase, who is better than anyone they have faced so far.

What might be the difference is a Bengals run defense that ranks as possibly the worst in the NFL. They have given up 140+ yards on the ground in 4 of their 5 games, and over 170 yards in three of those contests. Seattle is tough to beat when they get the ground game going.

This will be a tough one, but I expect the Seahawks to come out on top.

The way this works: Each offense will be pitted against the opposing defense and compared on an array of key statistical attributes based on their respective rank in the NFL. The tables that follow show the rank of each unit for each of these categories.

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Seahawks Offense vs Bengals Defense

Bengals key advantages on defense

Trey Hendrickson is one of the most underrated pass rushers in the NFL. He has been a monster again this season with 6 sacks, including 2.5 in this last game despite playing injured. He will be a problem no matter who faces him, but it would be a big deal if Charles Cross could make it back. Stone Forsythe had one good game against the Lions, and has been pretty awful since.

Rookie safety Jordan Battle has started to take snaps from poorly performing veteran, Nick Scott. Battle played well against Arizona, and could see more chances in this game.

Seahawks key advantages on offense

Should Cross make it back, Seattle may be more comfortable running their three receiver sets, and allowing Jaxon Smith-Njigba to make plays a little further down the field instead of all these screen passes.

Mike Hilton has struggled at nickel corner for Cincy.

The Bengals have not been able to generate much of a pass rush beyond Hendrickson. If they can focus their attention on him, and get this run game going against a very bad run defense, Geno Smith should have some very favorable matchups.

Bengals Offense vs Seahawks Defense

Bengals key advantages on offense

Chase and Burrow are plenty by themselves. It is possible that Tee Higgins will return in this one, and he can be dangerous as well. Joe Mixon has struggled to find any space behind this offensive line, but is a dangerous back.

Seahawks key advantages on defense

Teams still do not know what the Seahawks secondary looks like at full strength. They should be as close as ever for this game. I am particularly eager to see Witherspoon, Brown, and Woolen all be available at corner.

Putting Adams on one side of the line and Withespoon on the other should keep offenses guessing about who is coming and who is dropping into coverage. Both can play the run as well.

Whether the Seahawks can create significant pressure on the passer for the third straight game will be a key factor in the outcome. This offensive line has been very bad, and Seattle has seen a big jump from Boye Mafe, Jarran Reed, and Mario Edwards. Cam Young has been quietly coming on as well.