What’s Holding the Bengals Back, Part 2: The Defense

The Bengals defense is better than it has been. Points allowed are 13th. Sacks are third. The front is the reason. The call has not caught up to the roster. This is not a “the defense is bad” video. It is Part 2 of what is holding the Bengals back. The picture before the snap is the picture after it. Last in blitz rate. First in light boxes. The plan is the front four win, and if they do not, wait for them to win. That is easy to install on Wednesday and easy to read on Sunday. The slot and the seam are where the offense repped them all week. Tight ends are at 10.2 yards per target, second-worst. The slot is at 10.0. The outside is at 6.1. Cover 1 and Cover 3 are 58 percent of the shells, man at 4th highest in league (coupled with last in league blitz0. We go through the roster, the color maps, Houston versus Pittsburgh, the sore spots, and what an optimized call looks like. Not a new named defense. Not a clinic. Static becomes the change-up. Help becomes the base. Tackling and the standard are Part 3.