In the first week of the 2024 regular season, the Cincinnati Bengals clearly had more than their fair share of problems on the defensive line. After there was a major concern that the team failed to address the nose tackle position during the offseason following the loss of Pro Bowl nose tackle D.J. Reader, their worst fears were realized when this unit gave up 170 rushing yards to the underwhelming New England Patriots rushing attack. Dual three-technique defensive tackles B.J. Hill and Sheldon Rankins simply couldn’t hold up against the brute force strategy of New England and it was clear that something had to change.
Cincinnati Bengals Defensive Line in Rough Shape for Week 2
Unfortunately, this defensive will be left with virtually the same lineup after rookie three-technique defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Jr. was once again ruled out of Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs with a thumb injury. Although Jenkins only weighs in at 305 pounds, his remarkable weight room prowess that earned him the nickname “the Mutant” allows him to slot in well at the nose tackle position. Without him, the defense will once again be forced to rely on pass-rush-focused tackles Hill and Rankins to stop a formidable Kansas City rushing attack.
Grading the Performance of the Cincinnati Defensive Line in Week 1
While Pro Football Focus scoring is generally an outstanding tool to rank interior linemen on the defensive front (since there is no pure statistic for how well linemen plug gaps and cover their assignments), the rushing yards allowed tell you everything you need to know about the team’s performance in Week 1. Hill and Rankins finished with abysmal PFF scores of 46,8 (74th amongst NFL defensive tackles) and 60.5 (42nd). Backup defensive tackle Zach Carter actually finished with a positive score of 72.5 (12th best in the NFL) but at 290 pounds, he certainly won’t be able to play the nose tackle role on the defensive interior.
Although linebacker Logan Wilson played an outstanding game to start the season, Cincinnati is in desperate need of some toughness on the defensive front. With Jenkins and 2024 NFL Draft third-round pick McKinnley Jackson out once again, this team will have to rely heavier on blitz packages to stop the run. Even though he ended with a horrible PFF score of 47.8 against the run, cornerback Dax Hill must’ve played far more against the run than anticipated since he was in a tackling position 10 times (2 missed) in his first performance as a cornerback.
Cincinnati will have its hands full upfront during this game since with their staggered defensive front they will be forced to go against a potent Kansas City rushing attack that features three of the best interior linemen in football in guards Joe Thuney, Trey Smith, and center Creed Humphrey. Considering that this Patrick Mahomes guy at the quarterback position for the Chiefs happens to be pretty good, this team will desperately need to stop the run quickly if they have any chance of turning in a solid effort on the defensive side of the ball.
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