Since there is no real way to sugarcoat it, it is best to state the problem openly: the Cincinnati Bengals put on one of the worst defensive displays seen in decades at the professional level. While there have been some games where things have gone wrong for a defense, there haven’t been many games where nothing went right for an entire game. The pass coverage and run-stopping were equally abysmal and there is an obvious course of blame at this stage of the season.
Cincinnati Bengals Defensive Coordinator Made Huge Violation
After the front office let nose tackle D.J. Reader leave for the Detroit Lions during the free agency window this offseason, there was an assumption that the run defense would take a major hit. That might have been a major understatement after the defense looks completely incapable against the rushing attack particularly after the front office chose not to bring in an actual nose tackle to replace Reader. Granted, Reader was 30 years old and had suffered a lower-body injury that may inhibit the Clemson product’s development at this stage in his career but to not bring in a replacement was a major mistake.
Even if the front office was going to make the critical mistake of not bringing in a nose tackle, there are things that defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo could do to stop the run even with an undersized line. One of the most obvious would be to tighten down the defensive line to where both tackles are lined up in a 2 or a 2i (over the offensive guard or the offensive guard’s inside shoulder) to help make it easy to open up a massive hole with a double team. That being said, Anarumo appears to have done the opposite of that.
In a game where the rushing attack was lethal, Anarumo decided that not only would he not bump both defensive tackles down, but he actually neglected to have any defensive tackles play a 1-technique (on the shoulder of the center) or a 2i at all. In 57 plays where Washington manhandled the Cincinnati defense, Anarumo only had a defensive tackle defending the A gap (between the center and the guard) on 10 plays according to Pro Football Focus. That means that Cincinnati on the other 47 plays (or the other 82% of the time), Cincinnati might as well begged Washington to run the ball right up the middle.
Over the past few seasons, Anarumo’s standing as a defensive coordinator has severely declined. After the 2021 season with the Super Bowl run, Anarumo fielded multiple calls regarding head coaching positions. Now, the former Giants’ secondary coach is dangerously close to being fired midseason if he can’t figure out a way to turn around this defense’s deplorable effort to start the season.
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