The Cincinnati Bengals have built a reputation as one of the most loyal franchises in the NFL when it comes to coaches. After all, this is the team that kept Marvin Lewis for 15 years even though the coaching legend never won a playoff game in that span. While they may not have won a playoff game, there is something gloriously midwestern about Cincinnati never giving up on their guys even through some particularly disappointing losses.
Bengals Stick with Beleaguered Defensive Coordinator in 2024
After the team ranked second to last in total yardage allowed during the 2023 season, Cincinnati has confirmed that they will retain defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo for another season. Anarumo has been with the team since head coach Zac Taylor brought him in during the 2019 offseason. The stat line isn’t entire out of place as Anarumo has mastered the art of the “bend but don’t break” defense.
While the team has given up 374.6 yards per game, the team also ranked 12th in turnovers forced in NFL with 26. Anarumo also does an excellent job at putting an emphasis on situational defense in Cincinnati as the team has consistently been elite in both third down and red zone defense.
This season will officially mark Anarumo as being tied for the most tenured defensive coordinator at four completed seasons in the position. Over the past two years, there has been speculation that the former defensive backs coach with the New York Giants would be leaving for a head coaching job somewhere else. Unfortunately for Anarumo (and likely fortunately for Cincinnati), this season pushed his “bend but don’t break” philosophy past its limit and teams have cooled on hiring him for the head coaching job.
I stand by the theory that this entire season was essentially a failed experiment by the defensive coordinator as he overemphasized the importance of turnovers to his unit and neglected fundamentals such as basic tackling and sound coverage. If that is the case, Anarumo will likely course-correct next season and the defense will return to it’s typically excellent form.
Part of Anarumo’s success has been his ability to develop draft picks that were selected in the second day of the NFL Draft. Seven of the eleven starters on the Cincinnati defense were drafted in either the second or third round of the NFL draft with safety Dax Hill being the only first round pick starting on the defense.
With the likely loss of star defensive tackle D.J. Reader to free agency, it is anticipated that Cincinnati will draft a defensive tackle in the second round and likely another defensive back in the third round. Since that realm of the draft has been Anarumo’s greatest asset, I would anticipate that those would end up being excellent players on a talented defense.
I anticipate that Anarumo will return this defense to form in 2024 and Cincinnati will face a huge resurgence next season. With a revitalized defense and a healthy quarterback, the sky is the limit for this talented squad.
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