CINCINNATI (WKRC) – As Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden tried to unpack all that went wrong for his defense in Sunday’s 39-38 loss to the New York Jets, his players held a meeting Monday to make sure they remain a cohesive group.
The Bengals allowed several explosive running plays that helped the previously winless Jets pile up 254 rushing yards. Cincinnati also struggled with tackling and failed to pressure the quarterback, recording just one hit and no sacks.
“We cannot, for whatever reason, we cannot get rid of the inconsistent (plays) that break your back, and I gotta break through there and give them a path to success there. That’s on me,” said Golden. “Just eliminate those plays, there’s really great things on the other side of that, if we can just eliminate a couple of those plays, they end up being catastrophic for you. You string together however many good plays in the first quarter, and then you give them one or you give up a 3rd-and-10 before the half that leads to points, that kind of thing. We just have to eliminate those.”
Part of the problem lies in the Bengals starting two rookie linebackers, Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter, and a rookie defensive end, Shemar Stewart. Their inexperience has led to communication breakdowns and missed assignments.
“That’s where we’re at and so we have to create that experience quickly,” said Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. “Learning from number one can’t make the same mistake twice, so maybe you’re seeing it for the first time or in the context of a game for the first time and if we’re slow to react and the second time we can’t be slow to react. There’s going to be a little bit of that, especially when you’re playing some young players, which we got a couple of rookies playing on defense that I think have tremendous upside and I’m excited about them. At moments there’s going to be growing pains. You just can’t have them all together, one play this guy, one play that guy. I see elements that I’m excited about in our future as we continue to grow this week and going forward. Like I stated, it’s about alright, we made a mistake, I’m not going to ever repeat that mistake again. I’ve learned from it. I’ve been in the game, I’ve done that. Other guys at the position holding everybody accountable, helping them get lined up, helping them get the call, helping them make the correction immediately after the snap.”
Golden said he has simplified the defense to help the younger players play faster.
“I think we’re pretty simple right now,” said Golden.” We’re fairly simple and just need the guys to play faster. That’s where we’re at right now. I’d rather do that and have them play a little faster than encumber them with a lot of different calls and adjustments that they’re not quite ready for.”
Golden, who previously coached Bengals linebackers Germaine Pratt and Logan Wilson, said player development takes time.
“All I could tell you, from my experience, is when I got here, Germaine Pratt, who was, for me, one of the most fun people to work with, most rewarding,” said Golden. “He would probably tell you he didn’t have the most consistent rookie year, and he went on to have whatever, eight, nine years, two AFC Championship games, big plays, Super Bowl. And I don’t know if people would have said that after his rookie year, and he just kept getting better and better, and it slowed down for him. Demetrius Knight comes to mind. You look at the tackle sheet and you’re like, ‘Man he’s making a lot of tackles.’ Then there some plays that he’s missing that you know he’s capable of and your sitting there and going, ‘If he puts that together with what he’s already making,’ because of his effort and because of his suddenness and because of his strength, he’s really going to be something. They all learn at different levels. A lot of it has do with the makeup of what their practice sessions were.”
Golden said he isn’t using the youth as an excuse, “because at the end of the day we have to perform.”
“I need them to perform at a high level,” said Golden. “We all do. The standard doesn’t change. The opponent doesn’t care. The standard doesn’t change irrespective of their age.”
Missed tackles have been another major issue. Carter missed one that allowed Jets running back Isaiah Davis to break free for a 50-yard gain. The Bengals had seven missed tackles overall, according to Pro Football Focus, and several defenders took poor angles that created huge rushing lanes.
Sportradar data shows the Bengals have 84 missed tackles this season — 21 more than any other NFL team. Knight leads the team with 11, followed by safety Jordan Battle with 11, Carter with seven, and safety Geno Stone with nine, according to Pro Football Reference.
Taylor said the team plans to make practice adjustments to address the issue, despite league rules prohibiting live tackling during the season.
“There’s thing we’re going to look at being creative with it,” said Taylor. “I’m not going to in here get into it all, but I think when you’re saying it’s an issue back-to-back weeks, multiple weeks, then we got to find ways to fix it. I think at moments there’s flat out missed tackles at moment, there’s a step of hesitancy that is not allowing you to be in a position to get the guy down for a two to three yard gain as opposed to more significant than that. So again, things that you can see on the tape and are able to be cleaned up and we just have to do it, can’t keep sitting up here and saying it.”
The Bengals’ pass rush has also been ineffective. Over the last two games, they haven’t recorded a sack and have only three quarterback hits — one coming from Knight on a touchdown pass by Pittsburgh’s Aaron Rodgers in which he had almost nine seconds to throw. Rookie defensive end Shemar Stewart has yet to make an impact (didn’t record a single stat in 22 snaps against Pittsburgh and had one assisted tackle against the Jets), and 2023 first-round pick Myles Murphy has just 1.5 sacks this season.
“We’ve got to pressure more,” said Golden. “Of course you have to win one on ones, that’s a part of it. We have to win our one on ones and get them off track so it’s more pocket pass and less play action. We’ve got to do a better job there. Just create some different kind of pressures, different kind of blitz packages, take a deep look at the personnel and see if we have to move them around and put them in different structures. That will all be on the table because something has to change there.”
Taylor said he was encouraged to see defensive players holding one another accountable.
“I think we’ve got good people in that room,” said Taylor. “It’s little things. It’s not always a big thing, it’s just giving up an extra three yards. Sometimes on a run or a perimeter play, it’s being a step hesitant and so maybe you’re not missing a tackle, but you are missing a tackle because of the little hesitancy there. Those are things that I think we’re seeing as a unit, as a team that we’ve got to clean up and be better at. There’s not wholesale changes to be made with that stuff, just fundamentally we got to be better. That’s really at every level of the defense. There’s certainly things in the other two phases as well that we have to clean up on. Offense, special teams as well. That hasn’t been good enough either. As a team, those are the things that we’re all accountable for and I know that the guys are of the right mindset to get it fixed and play better so that we can go win a game.”