Bengals Film Room: Defense steps up vs. Broncos

This is the defense this team needs to compete.

Many people don’t want to admit it, but the Cincinnati Bengals‘ defense looked pretty good this last week.

I didn’t say great. I didn’t say they were locked down/shut down. I said pretty good. Honestly, that’s all we are asking for. With Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins on the other side, that should be good enough.

They faced a promising rookie quarterback in Bo Nix, who was strongly hyped going into the game. The Broncos also have a good rushing attack, which is dangerous territory for this Bengals defense. Finally, they have a very well-respected Super Bowl Champion head coach in Sean Payton.

The Bengals’ defense had basically one bad drive, in which the Broncos pounded the ball down the field, and one bad play, which we will take a look at here.

This was a rough one for Geno Stone and Jordan Battle.

Both are lined up at the 39-yard line. Battle is above the hash marks, and Stone is below them. This is a quarter-quarter-half coverage and the offense attacks right between their deep field zones.

Stone is influenced by the play-action and becomes flat-footed. As a result, two seconds after the snap, Stone has gained only two yards depth, while Battle has gained five.

However, this advantage for Battle would not last. As Marvin Mims Jr. stems toward the outside, hinting at a corner route, Battle bites hard. He turns his hips and is forced to do a bicycle turn (aka speed turn) to get back to Mims. This allows Mims to get even with Battle with inside leverage.

Meanwhile, in a zone nearby, Stone was doing some kind of side shuffle instead of backpedaling, which prevented him from gaining any kind of real depth. Mims was already deeper than Stone as he crossed over into his deep half of the field.

Both players should have been over top of the route and bracketing the receiver on either side. Both are to blame for the score, but there is one more player who deserves blame for this touchdown: Joesph Ossai.

Prior to the snap, Ossai is on the line of scrimmage at the top of the screen, but then he shifts to a linebacker position. When the ball is snapped, he allows Mims to run right by him. He needs to do something to prevent him from running straight up the field. Preferably, he should get his hands on him, but even just getting his body in front of Mims and making him alter his path would be helpful.

We call this undressing the safety. It puts the safeties in a bad spot even before their faulty footwork gets them in trouble.

But, Matt, what about the other Mims touchdown?

Well, that happened on 4th down. It wasn’t a bad drive for the Bengals. They were just about to get off the field. Also, they couldn’t have played it much better than they did. Let’s take a look.

This is Cover 1. You have man coverage underneath with the free safety playing over the top.

Mike Hilton gives up a bit more space than I’d prefer, but he’s in an okay position. When the ball is thrown, he quickly closes the gap between him and the receiver. He even plays the ball through the hands with the correct hand. Many defenders try to come in with the off-hand, which doesn’t work when you are coming from behind. As the receiver hits the ground, Hilton goes for the ball again. If his coverage was a little tighter or if he was there a half-step faster, he probably makes the play, but it’s not bad coverage.

As Nix began to scramble to the right, Stone quickly got over the top of Mims. He was in a great position and made a play on the ball over the top of the receiver. Stone and Hilton had this route bracketed pretty well, and it was just a great play by Nix and Mims.

Unfortunately, there is just little defense for a perfect pass.

The defense made some big plays too. They didn’t give up a single first down in overtime. In fact, they only gave up six yards in two possessions.

Then, there was Germaine Pratt’s interception.

This is a fantastic play by Pratt.

Hilton chases the back to the flat, and Akeem Davis-Gaither runs with the vertical up the seam. That leaves a gap for the crossing route, which Nix throws, but Pratt is underneath the route and makes the pick.

You can see Pratt read Nix and shift to the left as the quarterback rolls out. He flows with the play and reads the quarterback’s eyes, taking him right to the interception.

This is a fantastic play by the veteran linebacker.