A Cincinnati Bengals DPOY Contender Has Shockingly Emerged After a Loss to the Kansas City Chiefs

The Cincinnati Bengals are 0-2 to start the season, but their defense is home to a bright spot that could help bring them back from the bottom of the NFL barrel.

Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson is making an early case to be the best defensive player in the NFL despite the Bengals dropping both of their first two games.

Cincinnati Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson dominated the game against the Kansas City Chiefs

There is an argument to be made that Hendrickson was the best player on the field in the Bengals’ loss to the Chiefs. Hendrickson took the game over with his pass-rushing ability, contributing to Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’s career-worst full-game passing effort.

Hendrickson had two sacks and four QB pressures on 25 pass rushes in the game against the Chiefs after earning seven quarterback pressures in the week one loss to the New England Patriots.

Two sacks are nothing to scoff at, but Hendrickson impacted the game beyond those sacks and pressures. He was dominating Chiefs left tackle Kingsley Suamataia so consistently that he was benched by the Chiefs staff. Hendrickson was getting back to Mahomes so quickly that he forced several huge penalties on the offensive line such as a crucial holding call and a massive illegal hands-to-the-face call.

Despite Hendrickson’s best efforts, the Bengals were unable to pull out the victory in Arrowhead Stadium. On the most important play of the game, a 4th and 16 prayer that resulted in a defensive pass interference that allowed the Chiefs to kick a game-winning field goal, Hendrickson was stymied because the Bengals only rushed three players. That gave the Chiefs offensive line the chance to put multiple guys on Hendrickson.

Hendrickson still got around the edge, but there was no help on the inside and that allowed Mahomes to escape and get the ball away. A defensive tackle on Hendrickson’s side could’ve forced Mahomes to get the ball out earlier, but Hendrickson’s pass-rush win just gave Mahomes a massive gap to extend the play.

Alternate view of #Chiefs 4th and 16 to trigger Ohio pic.twitter.com/vbgC7JH3JJ

— 📽️ Red Tribe Cinema (@ClayWendler) September 19, 2024

Cincinnati Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson leads the NFL in a crucial statistic

Hendrickson leads the NFL in edge pass-rush win rate with a 39% win rate. Other potential Defensive Player of the Year candidates like Detroit Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, Cleveland Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett and Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby have pass-rush win rates of 33%, 27% and 29% respectively.

Hendrickson’s absurd pass-rush win rate which is approaching a staggering pass-rush win on every other play is even more impressive when you consider the fact that Hendrickson is double-teamed more than almost any other player in the league. Hendrickson’s 30% double-team rate is only matched by Garret (30%) and Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones (31%) among players with a top-20 pass-rush win rate in the NFL.

& As always…. Because we’re Bengals fans we have to provide data for all of our points or have random ass non ball knowing mfers question it.

Breakfast is served 👨🏾‍🍳🥞🧇🍳 pic.twitter.com/unLAvgqSBV

— ZIM (@zimwhodey) September 18, 2024

In an article from A to Z Sports, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes explained how good Hendrickson is.

“He’s just an absolute monster. Just his motor, the way he’s able to rush the passer,” Mahomes said. “I remember playing him in New Orleans and he was like that and then he got to Cincinnati (and) he’s been like that. He did a great job today. He’s great against the run and the pass, kind of an underrated guy. It was a good test for us, and we’ll have to get better for it.”

Two games is a small sample size and Hendrickson was the beneficiary of poor offensive line play on the other side of the ball, so there is no guarantee that Hendrickson will be able to rush the passer at this level of efficiency as the season continues.

The Bengals did give Hendrickson help on the inside as Hendrickson’s one-man wrecking crew performance against the Chiefs was accomplished with an extremely thin interior that had backup tackles like Zachary Carter playing 15 snaps in a row.

The Bengals signed veteran defensive tackle Lawrence Guy and they are trying to get one in the W column for the first time this season against the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football. Hendrickson will once again face a subpar offensive tackle and he will once again dominate the game if the Commanders fail to gameplan around him.

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