Cincinnati Bengals’ Biggest Concern Defensively in Embarrassing Week 1 Loss to New England Patriots

While it is easy to cast doubts toward the offense, there is enough firepower on the offensive side of the ball to at least mitigate some concerns.  The same cannot be said about the defense as the 29th-ranked unit in the NFL in 2023 looked like they took a sizeable step back after they were completely overpowered by the Patriots’ offensive front, including former Cincinnati reject offensive guard Michael Jordan.  While there were some signs of life from the secondary, the defensive edge was arguably the biggest concern for Cincinnati.

Pro Football Focus Statistics Should Alarm Defensive Coaches

While no statistic is perfect at analyzing the performances of individual players, the Pro Football Focus ratings are about as good as they come.  While defensive ends Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard are usually reliable as outside run defenders, they were completely mismatched against two relatively inexperienced offensive tackles in New England.  In the game, Hendrickson and Hubbard were given pro football focus overall grades of 65.0 and 48.7, ranking them as the 35th and 81st defensive ends in the NFL during the first week of the season.  Without question, those numbers were not good enough.

Once you factor in the low rankings of starting defensive tackles B.J. Hill and Sheldon Rankins, it became painfully obvious exactly why Cincinnati was incapable of stopping the rushing attack: the Cincinnati defensive line was completely mismatched against a physical offensive unit.  Experts have warned the team all offseason that there may be a serious hole on this defense after the front office failed to adequately replace nose tackle D.J. Reader during the offseason and week 1 fulfilled those fears perfectly.

While the team struggled as a whole, the biggest issue of this unit as a whole was a complete inability to hold contain on the outside.  On multiple occasions, New England running back Rhamandre Stevenson or quarterback Jacoby Brissett were able to easily slip outside of the pocket and make a big play either on the ground or through the air.  While Hendrickson and Hubbard are usually sound defensive ends when it comes to their contain responsibilities, they were completely incapable of that task to start the 2024 season.

Is Cincinnati Defensive Coordinator Lou Anarumo on the Hot Seat?

While Lou Anarumo enjoyed initial success in Cincinnati, it appears that the former New York Giants secondary coach has been rapidly declining over the past few seasons.  Suppose Cincinnati fails to come up with an adequate answer for the rushing defense without a legitimate nose tackle. In that case, it is highly likely that the team parts ways with their defensive coordinator during the offseason.  It was assumed that there would be growing pains with the departure of players like Reader but the team’s worst fears were realized to start the season.