The Defense

[membengal]

They take a ton of skepticism from folks that are fans, just wanted to note...

1. 38 points allowed through four games...I remember some years where they allowed near that many in game one (including last season, and the one before that, etc. etc.).

2. Rookies stepping up. Odell has been obvious, but I think Pollack is ready to join the party.

3. Depth...tons of it, everywhere...Anthony Mitchell and Shaun Smith had good plays today, it allows them to overcome injuries and keep strong. I like.

Lastly, the D appears eager to take on a stopper role, confident in operating with a game on the line. Huge plays all over the field in the 4th quarter...Odell and Pollacks' sacks with the game tied at 10, Justin Smith's pressure forcing the fumble that happily survived review, keeping players in front of them and in bounds with the Texans out of timeouts and trying desperately to score (VERY smart football and I loved the sure tackling).

All in all, this is the kind of defensive effort that the Colts have been getting praised for for weeks now, and the Bengals have been matching them. They gutted out a tough defensive win at home, a win against a league doormat they had to have. In light of the injuries to Braham and Moore, and the offense being slightly off all day as a result, the D's effort was huge. Simply huge.

Great game from them.

[BengalszoneBilly]

It's great news, but won't be "enough" for some. The incessant whining about penalties will show up here soon enough.

[bengalsLB]

i'm honestly not sold on our D yet, i'm gonna save my judgement till after the jags game

[Columbusbengal]

i'm honestly not sold on our D yet, i'm gonna save my judgement till after the jags game

I don't think Jacksonville's offense is very good either, so I'm not sure what that game is going to prove about our defense. I would say it's going to show more about our offense - the Jags have a very nice defense themselves.

The BAD thing about the beginning of the Bengals' schedule (first six games) is that they really don't play anyone good. This is also the GOOD thing because the major thing the Bengals needed was to get off to a good start and to gain confidence. By the time they get to the tough part of the schedule, the Bengals should be rolling and confident enough to play anyone (not necessarily WIN against anyone, but at least be competitive against anyone).

Another good point someone made was that four of those first six easy games are on the road, giving the Bengals a chance to gain an advantage there. Basically, I think we all agreed at the beginning of the year that the Bengals would probably make the playoffs UNLESS injuries interfere with that goal. We need to keep our fingers crossed for Braham. He is one of the few players the Bengals cannot afford to lose for very long (especially if his backup is out for the season).

[smith288]

Whats wrong with being annoyed by the penalties and finding that as a glaring flaw? Those things will kill the Bengals when we play teams the caliber of the Colts and Jacksonville.

All in all, I found the game somewhat frustrating to watch until the defense started wearing down the Texans' line.

[derekshank]

Whats wrong with being annoyed by the penalties and finding that as a glaring flaw? Those things will kill the Bengals when we play teams the caliber of the Colts and Jacksonville.

All in all, I found the game somewhat frustrating to watch until the defense started wearing down the Texans' line.

Well, there is nothing wrong with being annoyed about the penalties. What is wrong with it on this particular thread is that there was only one defensive penalty on the Bengals the entire game. A 5-yard facemask penalty. Hardly anything to get bothered about. The other 13 penalites for 112 yards were on the offense and special teams.

So it is more than reasonable to say that we won this game thanks to our defense. We held the Texans to a mere 254 yards when they had two weeks to prepare for us, and we had no film to prepare with based on their O-Coordinator switch.

They only sustained 3 drives of more than 30 yards, and managed only 10 points. Their rushing stats look nice for them, but David Carr had 3 runs for 35 yards. He's good like that. He had 40 yards against Buffalo, and 46 against Pittsburgh. Both very respectable defenses.

Davis had good looking numbers as well, but 11 of his 19 carries were for 3 yards or less. So our problem with the rushing defense is the occasional big run (i.e. Davis' 19 yard run down to our 6 yard line, eventually ending in a TD). All in all though, our rushing defense was very solid if you watched the game.

What most impressed me though was toward the end of the game. Most of the fans were holding their breath as Carr took the field with a little more than a minute to drive the field and score for the win. But our defense pressured him like I've never seen before, and because we knew they wouldn't be running the ball, the LB's were hitting the WR's incredibly hard over the middle. We were unbelievably violent and high energy in that last minute. This shows me a defense that has confidence, and is eager to hit.

I'm very confident in this defense right now in a tight spot. If we limit the bigger runs, and the offense and ST's limit the penalties we will be unbeatable.

[HoosierCat]

Well, there is nothing wrong with being annoyed about the penalties. What is wrong with it on this particular thread is that there was only one defensive penalty on the Bengals the entire game. A 5-yard facemask penalty. Hardly anything to get bothered about.

Actually, it was. Without the face mask the Texans would have been facing a 3rd and 1 and about a 40 yard FG attempt. The penallty gave them a 1st down. They stalled at the 10 a couple plays later but kicked a chip-shot FG. Maybe they still make it from 40, or maybe they go for it on 3rd and 1, but thanks to Odell they didn't have to make that call.

There were also two killer defensive penalties on special teams. One whiped out a 37 yard return by Perry and set the bengals up at ther own 8 instead of the 37, the other, an illegal block on Wilkins, pushed us back across midfield on that 0:08 drive at the end off the half, pretty much killing any chance we had of getting into long FG range.

Overall, the D played very well. But those 3 penalties all happened at just the wrong times...something I'm sure Marvin will be happy to point out to them this week...over and over again.

[derekshank]

Well, there is nothing wrong with being annoyed about the penalties. What is wrong with it on this particular thread is that there was only one defensive penalty on the Bengals the entire game. A 5-yard facemask penalty. Hardly anything to get bothered about.

Actually, it was. Without the face mask the Texans would have been facing a 3rd and 1 and about a 40 yard FG attempt. The penallty gave them a 1st down. They stalled at the 10 a couple plays later but kicked a chip-shot FG. Maybe they still make it from 40, or maybe they go for it on 3rd and 1, but thanks to Odell they didn't have to make that call.

There were also two killer defensive penalties on special teams. One whiped out a 37 yard return by Perry and set the bengals up at ther own 8 instead of the 37, the other, an illegal block on Wilkins, pushed us back across midfield on that 0:08 drive at the end off the half, pretty much killing any chance we had of getting into long FG range.

Overall, the D played very well. But those 3 penalties all happened at just the wrong times...something I'm sure Marvin will be happy to point out to them this week...over and over again.

You made my point for me. The 2 penalties you are talking about were Special teams penalties. The defensive unit was not on the field... they were not defensive penalties.

The facemask may have resulted in a 1st down for them... but rarely will a defense manage 0 penalties, and it was only a 5-yarder. Not to mention that 3rd and 1 is a high percentage conversion down, so it is likely they would have converted anyway. You're right... you can't know for sure, but if you want to complain about the defensive penalties (all one of them) you are nit-picking.

[ahanes]

I really hope Madieu Williams is ready to go Sunday because he is like an extra linebacker out there with his run support. Kaesviharn plays his guts out, but he still has trouble tackling. He would be a solid nickleback, but probably shouldn't be starting. But the Bengals defense as a whole is stepping up. Give Lewis one more draft of defensive players (safety to replace Kaesviharn and defensive tackle) and this unit will be a force for years to come.

[HairOnFire]

I was almost sold on this defense after watching the Cleveland game, and nothing I've seen since has done anything but strengthen my confidence. I'm sure they'll stumble at some point, and the doubters will quickly say I told ya so, but my advice is don't bother. Sheesh, they're 2nd in the entire NFL in scoring defense and more than half of the Bengal's points scored have followed turnovers.

This team is 4-0 because of defense.

BTW, great stuff by Derekshank on the penalties.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Whats wrong with being annoyed by the penalties and finding that as a glaring flaw? Those things will kill the Bengals when we play teams the caliber of the Colts and Jacksonville.

All in all, I found the game somewhat frustrating to watch until the defense started wearing down the Texans' line.

That's only a possible outcome, not a guaranteed one of this situation. It could be simply a sign of the extreme vigor they are playing with in these game, and that very vigor, though costly in terms of penalties, is still the reason we'll physically dominate these teams. We'll never know until we play those games, right?

[MacD BengalFan]

Here is a stat that no one had noticed. The defense is currently on pace to set the record for fewest points in a season. They are currently giving up 9.5 points a game, at that pace, they will only give up 152. The current record is the Ravens 2000 season of 165. Does anyone think they can keep this pace?

[Stripes]

Here is a stat that no one had noticed. The defense is currently on pace to set the record for fewest points in a season. They are currently giving up 9.5 points a game, at that pace, they will only give up 152. The current record is the Ravens 2000 season of 165. Does anyone think they can keep this pace?

First off, no, I do not.

If they can, then how awesome would it be. Marvin would be responsible for both records.

[thefrazz]

Well, if you want to look at it that "at this pace" the Bengals will beat the Ravens record...then you need to be fair and look at Indy's as well. They have given up less points then we have...so "at their pace" they will allow even less.

It doesn't really matter..I don't care about beating the 2000 Raven defence, I care about beating the 2005 Ravens....TWICE!

Then winning a SB of course....but one step at a time. JAX, here we come!

WHO-DEY

[HoosierCat]

Here is a stat that no one had noticed. The defense is currently on pace to set the record for fewest points in a season. They are currently giving up 9.5 points a game, at that pace, they will only give up 152. The current record is the Ravens 2000 season of 165. Does anyone think they can keep this pace?

I doubt it. That said, the D is defiinitely coming of age, and I vaguely recall noting a few months ago that our sked wasn't exactly packed with offensive juggernauts. Here's how our upcoming games look in terms of average points those teams are scoring per game:

Jax 15.5

Titans 17.25

Pitt 27 (x2)

GB 14.3

Balti 10 (x2)

Indy 19.4

Clowns 15

Lions 12

Buff 12

KC 22.75

Not a lot of scoring there. If we held all those teams to their current average, then our total points allowed for the year would be around 240. I don't think the Bengals have allowed that few points since they increased the schedule from 14 to 16 games in the mid-70s.