This offseason, the Cincinnati Bengals front office had one major job: Revamp the defensive side of the ball. They seemed to have done just that on paper as they landed players like Dexter Lawrence, Bryan Cook, and Super Bowl-winning defensive end Boye Mafe.
Coming to the Queen City from Seattle, Mafe has seen a team transform quickly as the Seahawks won another title last season. Now suiting up for the Bengals, he sees some similarities between his time in the PNW and his time in Cincy so far.
He recently joined The Insiders on the NFL Network last week and had this to say about Al Golden’s defense:
“When I was in Seattle, when we first had Mike (McDonald) there, there was always a learning curve. Guys are learning a new defense. There’s gonna be a learning curve,” Mafe said. “Coming into spring, I’m seeing that guys are comfortable with the defense. I’m seeing that guys are understanding everything. They’re seeing the vision. They’re seeing how he (Golden) wants to run the defense, and what he wants it to look like.
“It’s starting to become his vision of what the defense should look like.”
Bengals fans should love hearing that as the team searches for a defensive pulse this year to keep up with their potent offense. If all of these new additions can click, it could mean another deep run in the playoffs for Zac Taylor’s squad.
However, we will have to wait and see if those pieces are actually fitting together before we all start booking our flights and hotels in Los Angeles.