CINCINNATI (WXIX) – It’s not accurate to say that the Cincinnati Bengals’ defense has a tight end problem. If only it were that simple. If that were the case, all that the Bengals’ defense would need to do to fix it would be placing a different defender in man coverage on the tight ends that they face.
What the Bengals’ defense really has is a problem with play action.
On a lot of these big plays that the Bengals are allowing to tight ends, it could be a wide receiver, a running back or a kicker running across the middle of the field. Since the bye week, the Bengals have had Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter sell out more to stop the run, so they’re biting harder on run fakes.
That leaves tight ends running wide open behind them.
“For us, stopping the run has been a big emphasis,” Oren Burks said. “That’s a little bit why we’re a little antsy to get downhill. At the same time, it’s on us. We’ve got to be able to execute on play action. That’s a huge emphasis for us this week.”
On third downs, the Bengals are actually terrific against tight ends. Tight end stopper DJ Ivey hasn’t allowed a first down catch all year
Man defense against tight ends has actually been pretty good, aside from a play here or there over the course of the year. Geno Stone, Jordan Battle and Dax Hill have combined to allow two catches to tight ends on third downs all year.
These are true passing downs where Knight and Carter know that the other team is going to throw it. The problem is on the downs where the other team could run the ball or pass the ball.
“We can be better on some of the snaps, not buying so much on the action in front of them,” Zac Taylor said. “I know Al (Golden) is trying to help them schematically as well. It might be different look. It might be different way that they got the tight end there, but certainly has been something that’s bit us, and we’ve got to work out crazy to rectify it.”
This year, the Bengals have allowed the third-most play action passing yards per game (83). Even more alarming, they’ve allowed the most yards after the catch on play action passes. While the Bengals have been a poor tackling team this season, what that YAC stat really crystalizes is how wide open tight ends have been on play action passes.
The Bills went all-in on this game plan as Josh Allen connected with a tight end on a play action pass for 10 completions and 132 yards (over half of Allen’s passing yards on the day). Fittingly, the Bills’ final touchdown was on a play where the Bengals forgot to cover the tight end. I also counted six specific players where a linebacker just simply lost a tight end in coverage.
“It’s anticipation, film study, reading your rules out,” Burks said. “Having clean eyes. It’s instincts. You can drill it as much as you can, but in the drills you know it’s going to be a play action. In the games, it’s getting a feel for the instincts. You get a better feel as the game gets going. It’s helpful when it’s a familiar opponent.”
The Bengals have been seeing these game plans for weeks. Sometimes, there’s a different form of play action. The Patriots used a lot of end around fakes to get the Bengals’ linebackers to crash (one play resulted in a 28-yard touchdown where the Bengals failed to cover the tight end). The Bears used trick plays to get the linebacker to go one way before sending the ball in another direction.
You’re also seeing a lot of teams use more two and three tight end sets against the Bengals to ensure that Carter and Knight are both on the field as a part of a three linebacker package.
It all goes back to the same theme of opposing teams circling the Bengals’ rookie linebackers.
“For both those guys, it’s continue to gain experience with each snap and don’t make the same mistake twice,” Taylor said. ‘“We are trying to get that experience to them as quickly as possible so that the payoff can be as quick as possible because we see high-end traits from those guys. I think they are making really good progress. I still have really high hopes for them and am proud of the growth that they’ve had. It doesn’t mean there are not going to be some hiccups.”
***It’s never a bad time to brainstorm. During the Bengals’ team walkthrough last Friday leading up to the Bills game, Joe Burrow shared an idea with Mike Gesicki. If Gesicki saw a specific look and was getting man coverage, turn his 10-yard sit route into a high cross. The end result of that conversation was a fourth quarter touchdown in Buffalo.
Conversations like these are one of the unique things of being a part of the Bengals’ offense.
“It starts with coaching,” Gesicki said. “I’ve been a part of offenses where the coach says you’re doing this is and that’s the way you’re doing it. It doesn’t matter what the quarterback says or what you think. You do it the coaches’ way. The staff here trusts the players to be smart and take advantage of it in a smart way. They trust we’ll execute it the way we should. It starts with the coaches allowing you to play freely and the players not taking advantage of it in a negative way and messing it up.”
When the Bengals repped this play for the final time in practice last week, for whatever reason, Burrow held onto the ball for a little longer. That led to the play becoming a scramble drill situation, and Gesicki crossed the field during this rep in practice.
Burrow told him after that walkthrough rep, “ Hey, if you feel that during the game on Sunday, do it.”
Gesicki said that he locked that thought away in the back of his head.
In Buffalo, as the Bengals broke the huddle on that touchdown play and as Burrow saw the look he was getting, he told Gesicki, “Hey Mike, do it.”
The Bills executed an exotic blitz and got a free runner with a straight path to Burrow. But the Bengals’ quarterback stepped around him and bought the extra second for Gesicki to get down the field and cross in front of the cornerback for a 12-yard score.
Gesicki views the touchdown as a great example of the impact of the continuity that the Bengals have on offense and the trust that Burrow and the coaches have in the pass catchers.
“You’ve got to be on the same page and be ready when the stars align,” Gesicki said. “The more reps that you get, things pop up. Later in the season, you see a tendency here or things you can take advantage of. It’s not always exactly how we install it. Once you get out there and feel it, you say let’s do this instead. Run it how we talked about, but if you get this, do that.”
Those types of adjustments make the Bengals’ offense even more difficult to defend.
***A few weeks ago at practice, the Bengals were doing punt return drills. The team is still looking for its backup punt returner behind Charlie Jones, so Mitchell Tinsley and Josh Newton were getting some reps at fielding punts.
The guy who was possibly the best punt returner on the entire roster was going through scout team punt coverage reps. That guy was Jermaine Burton, and that was a sign of how little trust there was leading up to his release earlier this week.
The obvious lesson with the Burton pick is that based off where the Bengals are right now, they need to lean back on the draft strategy that worked so well for them leading up to the Super Bowl run. They shouldn’t take chances, and they should be drafting captains and captain types.
The worst part of this for the Bengals is that they really could use a guy like Burton. At a bare minimum, he’d give them more juice in the return game. He was pretty solid in that area last season even though he didn’t have much prior experience on special teams.
The Bengals drafted Burton to beat the Chiefs and Ravens. Those are the two best teams at executing double-double on Chase and Higgins. Burton’s deep catch against the Chiefs in Week 2 of 2024 was a brand new wrinkle in the Bengals’ versus Chiefs rivalry because finally the Bengals believed they had a dynamic vertical deep threat to make defenses pay when they sold out to stop Chase and Higgins. If Burton had clicked and made defenses pay for guarding him one-on-one, it would have been game over for opposing defenses.
Instead, as much as everyone likes Mitchell Tinsley, the Bengals’ receiver depth is missing an explosive gear.
***
The big question you heard after Josh Allen’s 3rd and 15 run to close Sunday’s game in Buffalo was why didn’t the Bengals spy him. I don’t have specific stats here, but my film study over the course of the season has made it clear that the Bengals are just really bad at spying quarterbacks.
You don’t spy Allen if you don’t think the spy is going to get the job done.
When the Bengals have spied this year, you see that spy jumping unnecessarily, getting thrown off by pump fakes, losing awareness of a check down opportunity developing around them or missing a tackle.
***
Last week, following the Thanksgiving win in Baltimore, there was a lot of buzz and excitement about the Bengals’ third down plan on defense. They executed some great creative wrinkles, mostly built around blitzes, pressure looks, simulated pressures and disguises.
The league always adjusts. The Bills knew what to do last week.
Their third down plan against the Bengals featured screens, RPOs and plays where Allen got rid of the ball immediately. Those are plays that are designed to beat blitzes and disguises, and they’re plays that gash aggressive defenses.
The Bills won this cat and mouse game last Sunday. Now, going forward, the Bengals’ defense has another adjustment to make.
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