CINCINNATI – The arrival of Joe Flacco has revitalized the Cincinnati Bengals offense.
Ja’Marr Chase is on the best three-game stretch of any receiver in NFL history.
Flacco is on the second-best three-game run of his career, and his best since 2010.
The run game has put up 378 yards, the best three-game span since 2022.
The offensive line isn’t just run blocking better, it’s pass protecting as well as it has in a long time, allowing just four sacks and 12 quarterback hits.
Role players Noah Fant and Samaje Perine are putting up numbers.
Everyone is clicking.
Except one: Andrei Iosivas.
The third-round receiver has seen his role expand due to the injury to Mike Gesicki, but Iosivas has failed to meet the challenge.
In three games with Flacco, Iosivas has four catches and four drops on 11 targets, per Pro Football Focus.
Asked this week about his confidence after a rough three weeks, Iosivas said, “It’s fine.”
“I work as hard as I can, and the plays will come when they come,” he added. “I’m just gonna stay steady and the course will be its course. I know that my best is good enough, so I just gotta keep playing like that.”
Three of the four drops came in Week 6 at Green Bay.
PFF flagged Iosivas for one drop Sunday in the collapse against the Jets. It was a throw in traffic on the final drive, and had he come down with the ball, the Bengals already would have been in position to attempt a game-winning field goal.
As it turned out, they never got another first down and lost the game.
“I think there’s certainly a couple plays that he wants back. and there’s been some times he’s made some big plays for us as well,” head coach Zac Taylor said. “I’ve got a lot of faith in Andre.”
Iosivas has 55 receiving yards in three games since Flacco took over, with 37 of them coming on a third-down play in the Pittsburgh game to set up a touchdown.
In Week 5 against the Lions, Iosivas had a career-high 82 yards, although much of that was in the final quarter when the Bengals were way down and feasting on a relaxed Detroit defense.
“There’s been moments during the season where Drei’s made big plays, made a huge play in the Pittsburgh game,” offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. “I have loved his approach, his preparation. I thought he had a strong camp. I thought all those things.
“There’s a handful of plays, namely in this previous game and the game before Pittsburgh, that I’m sure he wants back,” Pitcher added. “We rely on Drei. We trust him. He’s about the right stuff, and he has all the ability. So I expect him to come in with a strong performance this week.”
Iosivas was expected to take a big step this year, even with a healthy Gesicki, but it’s yet to transpire.
And it’s actually gone the other way since Gesicki went down.
Iosivas’ usually upbeat, exuberant personality was notably muted the day after the loss to the Jets. Everyone was still feeling the sting of the collapse.
Iosivas knows he could have made a difference in the outcome, and that’s a feeling he doesn’t want to repeat.
“Everybody needs to make plays for us to win in a team sport,” Iosivas said. “So, yeah, I just gotta make the plays when they come to me.”
