ESPN's Dan Orlovsky defends Joe Burrow, says Cincinnati Bengals' offensive scheme is dead

ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky defended Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and insisted that the team's offensive scheme is "dead" without two elite receivers, in response to fellow ESPN analyst Chris Canty's assertion that he's "selling all the Bengals stock and … selling all my Joe Burrow stock."

"I'll buy the stock from Chris," Orlovsky said on ESPN's "Get Up." "On Joe Burrow? One-hundred percent. Joe Burrow last week looked way more like Joe Burrow did two years ago, Week 1 against Pittsburgh. That would be my complaint. He didn't look comfortable. He didn't look settled. I don't think this is a massive issue. He's talked about all offseason this is the best I've ever felt. This is the strongest, the biggest, the fastest that I've ever felt. He didn't play great last week, but this is way more looking like a quarterback that didn't have great pocket feel and feel of the game and the speed. … New England's defense is better than anticipated. My overall concern with Cincinnati is significantly more that their scheme is dead. Their offensive scheme is dead. The only way this scheme works is if you have two elite wide receivers. Number one, you're in shotgun all the time. Number two, your tackles are in a two-point stance all the time, meaning their hand's not in the ground. The defensive ends first down are keying off in two-point stance. … Those defensive ends, they're not worried about the run. … This offense is dead in regards to you can't just line up and consistently live in the shotgun. … The tackles, in many ways, I feel like are giving away the plays. 'We're more than likely throwing the ball here.'"

"There's nothing physical about the Bengals on offense or defense," Orlovsky said earlier this week . "It's all finesse."

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: ESPN's Dan Orlovsky defends Joe Burrow, says Cincinnati Bengals' offensive scheme is dead