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Film Breakdown: How the Bengals' Defense Has Gotten Off to Such a Hot Start

Cincinnati's defense deserves more credit.

Mike Santagata

The Bengals’ offense got all of the hype coming into the season. 

On paper, this made a ton of sense. Joe Burrow, Joe Mixon, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd are all household names on this offense. There was talk of scoring 30 points per game and boat racing every team on the schedule. 

Then the season started and reality set in. The Bengals are currently averaging 22.8 points per game, which is 18th in the NFL. On the other hand, this defense has been scoffed at. When reports came out about them clamping up the offense, there was more concern about Burrow and company than there was praise for the defense. 

The national media didn't think that this defense on paper would even be middle of the pack. Fantasy analysts are still saying to target this defense and have not adjusted after 5 games.

Currently, the Bengals' defense is 7th in points per game, 11th in yards allowed, 7th in sacks per game, and they've forced a turnover in four of their five games. All of those basic statistics point towards a very well-run defensive unit. 

DVOA is a more advanced statistic that accounts for the offenses being played against and more and the Bengals’ defensive DVOA ranks 7th in the NFL. They're ahead of New England and Minnesota, among others. All statistics point to a defense that is holding its own this season. Let’s look at a few of the ways this defense is achieving success.

The Big Man

Starting up front with the anchor along the defensive line, DJ Reader. Reader is doing a fantastic job against the run while also pushing the pocket in pass rush situations. I talked about him this offseason as possibly the second best defender on this Bengals’ team and it looks to be true. One of the underrated abilities of Reader is his ability to not let linemen get to the second level on run plays. Doing this lets the linebackers play free and just track the ball carrier to make a tackle.

Here is a great example of Reader helping the linebackers have a career season. Reader is lined up at 0-Tech directly over the Packers center. The Packers run mid zone to the right side. On this play, the center is going to combo the nose tackle with the left guard and then work to the linebackers. Reader latches onto the center and keeps him from doing so. Because of this, Germaine Pratt goes unblocked and can make an easy stop. This specific skill is a very large reason that the linebackers in Cincinnati are all having career years.

Reader also has the ability to two gap offensive linemen to defend the run. Here the Packers want to run split zone right down the pipe. Reader ruins that play by playing both of the A gaps where the run is intended. He starts with great hand placement to two gap. Both hands are into the chest of the offensive lineman so that he can control him and work either way. When the back commits to the backside A gap, Reader tosses the center aside and makes the stop. He shows complete disregard for another professional football player.

Less of a true “two gap” in this scenario. This is what is called playing “one and a half gaps”. Reader is designated to play the backside A gap. He will hold that gap as long as the running back can still hit that hole. He does a great job recognizing the block and seeing that the Packers are running inside zone. When the back can no longer make a cut into the backside A gap, Reader crosses the lineman’s face and makes the stop. Crossing a professional football player’s face to make a tackle is something that is very difficult to do, but Reader does it consistently.

On this play, he does the same exact “one and a half gap” technique except the Bears are running wide zone. Cross face and make the stop after the back commits.

Reader doesn't need to play his secondary gap because he beats the reach block so well that he is in perfect position despite the run going well outside of the A gap.

Lastly for Reader, I wanted to look into his pass rushing which is not his forte, but he has done an admirable job in that department.

This is an example of Reader pushing the pocket backward so the quarterback cannot step up and then disengaging from the block by using his hulk strength to toss the lineman aside. Showing Reader is not only a pocket pusher but also can finish to really create pressure as well.

Reader is pushed to the guard on this pass rush, but then quickly beats him to move the quarterback off of his spot. When the quarterback steps to avoid the pressure he opens up the opportunity for Cam Sample to get his first career sack. Reader not only gets pressure on this play but he also should get partial credit for the sack by being the first one to the quarterback.

Here is Reader’s only sack thus far into the season. He stabs the center with both of his hands to start the rush which is just like how he starts most of his bull rushes. He can feel the center leaning into this block and uses that momentum against him. To use that momentum against him, Reader uses a “snatch” move, essentially ripping and pulling down with the momentum to get the center both off-balance and in the wrong direction. He also catapults himself towards the quarterback with this move. This is a great pass rush.

Grinders at Corner

On the complete opposite end of the body composition spectrum from Reader, let's take a look at the cornerback room. 

While these corners are not large people, they punch above their weight class, specifically when it comes to tackling. Corners are not known for their ability to tackle the ball carrier. In fact, they are mostly known for not tackling. Alex Gibbs (famous offensive line coach) always said that he wanted to make corners tackle. In one clinic he told high school coaches that corners in the NFL are just as bad at tackling as corners in their game. The Bengals cornerback room is doing everything they can to take down this stereotype.

The Packers love taking advantage of corners in the open field. They have attached these smoke routes to their run plays to get their players in space against guys who are not great at making tackles. When Aaron Rodgers sees off coverage to Davante Adams here he knows he is making this quick throw instead of handing it off to the running back. Chidobe Awuzie quickly reacts to this smoke and makes the tackle by wrapping Adams’ legs. He is very physical and very willing to tackle on this play and it stops the Packers from picking up a first down.

Another example of Awuzie playing physical and making a key stop against the Packers. This time he is in cloud coverage as part of the Bengals’ Cover 2. This means he will fall off of the receiver to the flat if there is a threat. He does a very good job of this and finishes it with a nice tackle.

Here the Packers have numbers to throw a quick screen out wide. The Bengals do not align correctly and end up with really just Awuzie to the three wide receiver side of this formation. Awuzie ruins the Packers easy gain by slipping past the wide receivers blocking and making another physical tackle for a loss.

Mike Hilton’s ability to do the same thing was also apparent this past week as he came downhill hard on this swing route to the back. This is something to be expected as he was very good at doing this in Pittsburgh as well. Another key to limiting easy offense and making them work for their yardage.

Hilton has been making these stops all year as well. Here he makes the stop against a screen pass to the wide receiver. This stop turns the screen into a wasted play and brings up a 3rd-and-long for the Vikings.

Here we can see a blitz from Hilton through the backside C gap. Not only does he get a clean run through but he makes the tackle. This is important for him to continue to be utilized in this fashion. Hilton combines his exceptional ability to blitz and time snap counts with a physical play style.

Here is another example except this time it was the plan by Lou Anarumo. The idea is to get the ball out quickly to the hot route by bringing pressure. Quarterbacks are taught to throw to the side of the blitzer because the coverage lost a guy to that side. Anarumo knows this as well and has Hilton in the flat to that side because he is an exceptional tackler as a corner. Works to perfection and shows the Bengals defensive coordinator as a step ahead of the offense.

Opportune Blitzes and Disguise

Speaking of the Bengals’ defensive coordinator being a step ahead of the offense, let’s dive into Anarumo's scheme and what's working. Specifically, it is knowing when to blitz and how to disguise, which is fascinating because it was an area of concern with Anarumo the past two seasons. I have already given two examples of his defense dialing up the perfect pressure for the situation leading to a pass for no gain and a clean run through. Let’s look at some more of these pressures and disguises.

This play is one of my personal favorites from Anarumo. The defense comes out in their double mug pressure formation. However, they leave Jessie Bates in the deep middle of the field. The quarterback can pretty much rule out an all out 0-Blitz due to this. Most likely leaving some type of 3 deep 3 under fire zone or man free. Instead, the Bengals bring everyone and have Bad play Cover 0. 

They use Bates to his skill set and have him quickly find the tight end and pick him up across the formation. Anarumo is using his players to their abilities as well as doing a good job disguising his coverage. The Bengals also play peel rules with their Cover 0 meaning that if the back stays in to block, everyone comes. However, if the back goes into the passing pattern, the man furthest out to that side will stop his rush and run with the back. Trey Hendrickson is that guy on this play and he plays the wheel beautifully. Peel rules insure that the defense will always bring one more guy than the offense can block while also accounting for the back.

This play is the opposite of the previous one in some ways. The Bengals still align in the double mug front, but on this one there is no one deep to start. The quarterback pre-snap will really be prepared to throw hot off of Cover 0 here. Instead of playing Cover 0 on this play, the Bengals end up in a Cover 3 simulated pressure. They spot drop an end into coverage while bringing one of the linebackers. The simulated pressure helps to give Hendrickson a one-on-one with the left tackle which he wins. By the time the quarterback hitches after his drop, Hendrickson is there to hit him. The throw ends up incomplete and the Bengals’ defense gets off of the field.

This should have been a clean hit against the quarterback from another well designed Cover 0, however, the right guard is a hero and hits two guys. This allows Cousins to get to his hot read and even though he misses him (possibly due to the pressure) he does not get blasted.

The Bengals are bringing Cover 0 again on this play, but this time the front is different. They line up in a 3-3 stack with Sam Hubbard at MIKE linebacker. Not only do they bring everyone, but also they do so with movement. The end crashes inside and Hubbard loops around him for a clean hit on the quarterback. Logan Wilson (who is having a very good season) has the awareness to see the quarterback being hit and tracks the floating ball in the air to make the interception. A perfect design and execution from the defense to get a turnover.

Pass blitzes and pressures are not the only blitzes that Anarumo has been dialing up either. He has done a very nice job calling run blitzes on first and second down as well.

The blitz here is for the 3T to slant inside so that the gap opens up for the safety blitz. It works perfectly for a clean run through and tackle for a loss. This is another example of using the personnel of the team to the best of their abilities. Vonn Bell excels at stopping the run, blitzing, and creating havoc. Anarumo knows this and blitzes him on early downs so that he can maximize those abilities.

This is just another example of the same exact blitz but from the opposite side. Another success as Bell stops the ball carrier in the backfield for a loss.

Lastly, we have Pratt (another guy having a good season) coming on the run blitz. On this play, the Bengals are in a bear front which means there are two 3Ts along with a 0T nose tackle. Pratt is aligned outside of the tackle and inside of the tight end from about 5 yards of depth. Slowly he creeps down further until the snap when he comes hot through the C gap. By the time the quarterback hands the ball off, Pratt is in the backfield. He makes a nice tackle for a loss on first down to put the Packers behind the sticks.

All of this does not even get into some more of the reasons this defense has excelled. Hendrickson is getting plenty of pressure and is on pace for double digit sacks again, Wilson is having a career season at taking the ball away, Bates is still a very good player, the coverages have been more varied and Awuzie looks like a number one corner. Larry Ogunjobi and B.J. Hill are both playing at a high level. The Bengals' defense is rocking for the first time since 2015 and I think more people should take notice.

Hopefully Anarumo can keep his defense playing at such a high level. It is a fun defense to watch and effective as well. Once the offense starts to click this team could be very dangerous if the defense is playing this well. By the end of the year, we could be looking at two top 10 units on this team which might be necessary with the slew of tough opponents coming up.

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Mike Santagata
MIKE SANTAGATA

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