The Bengals Lose Their Third Straight Game as the Defense Continues to Struggle
The Cincinnati Bengals faced off against the Detroit Lions as heavy 10.5-point underdogs and sure looked like it this Sunday. With a final score of 37-24 and 21 fourth-quarter points from the Bengals, this game looks a lot closer than it actually was. Bengals quarterback Jake Browning threw three interceptions and three touchdowns, finishing with a QBR of 76.1. However, Browning isn’t the talking point after the Bengals' third straight loss; the defense is.
After having a promising start to the season, forcing four turnovers in the first two games while winning both, the Bengals' defense seems to be in a heavy decline. They held the Lions to just 14 points in the first half; the Cincinnati defense didn’t show up in the second, allowing 23 points and 379 yards of total offense. Lions quarterback Jared Goff passed for 258 yards, three touchdowns, and had just four incompletions, finishing the game with a near-perfect 153.0 QBR. The running back duo of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs combined for 158 total yards and two touchdowns, averaging 3.9 yards per carry between the two of them.
While Detroit dominated the game, the Bengals' defense looked as lost as ever, trying to tackle opposing players in the open field. Out of the five Detroit touchdowns, four of them had at least three broken tackles leading up to them finding the endzone. Even though the Bengals had issues bringing down defenders in the open field, they created opportunities early by bringing pressure to the quarterback. The Bengals finished with four sacks, two of them coming from Trey Hendrickson and the other two coming from Myles Murphy and Joseph Ossai. On top of having a two-sack day, Hendrickson was also awarded with a forced fumble in the first quarter, doing his part to try and get some offensive momentum going early.
Outside of Hendrickson, no defensive player really made a huge impact on the game. T.J. Stalton had eight total tackles, and B.J. Hill added five in a fairly good game from the defensive line. The largest issue for the Cincinnati defense was the secondary. The trio of Cam Taylor-Britt, D.J. Turner, and Dax Hill easily had their worst game of the year, allowing players like Josh Newton, Tycen Anderson, and D.J Ivey to get the snaps they wouldn’t usually get. The Cincinnati Bengals take on another NFC North opponent next week when they travel to Lambeau Stadium to take on the Green Bay Packers. If the Bengals' defense can’t improve quickly, then we are in store for another uncompetitive game.
