Cincy Jungle
The Bengals’ defense was atrocious on Sunday. Allowing an inept Jets offense to score 39 points en route to their first win of the season. Let’s take a look back at what all went wrong throughout the game.
Early on, it felt like the Bengals defense might be on track for a get-right type of game against the hapless 0-7 New York Jets. Cam Taylor-Britt went from inactive to starting. He came out aggressively against the run.
The Bengals even recorded a fourth-down stop to get the ball back to the offense on the Jets’ first possession. Barrett Carter made the tackle after Taylor-Britt and Dax Hill sealed the edge.
On the Jets’ second possession, there were warning signs of what was to come against the run. The Bengals continue to be the worst tackling team in the league. The linebackers and secondary players are the biggest issues with that. Demetrius Knight Jr. was almost part of giving up the first big one on the day here.
The Bengals were able to end up forcing a punt on this possession. Barrett Carter made another good stop on the screen play. With a 10-0 lead and the ball back, things were looking good for notching a second straight victory with Joe Flacco at quarterback.
The Bengals were unable to add any more points on their next possession. Meanwhile, the Jets’ offense started to get some life. Former Bengal Isaiah Williams was getting in on the action in the passing game, as a returner, and here on a reverse. Knight was late to react, along with Joseph Ossai, not containing the edge on this play.
After a Jets field goal, the Bengals hit Tee Higgins for a 44-yard touchdown to push the lead to 17-3. The Bengals could have kept that 17-3 lead with another fourth-down stop near the goal-line. However, Jordan Battle slowed up on Justin Fields when coming on a blitz. Fields gets the pass off, leading to a touchdown. This felt like a big turning point when watching the game back.
Throughout the day, there were way too many missed assignments in the secondary. The lack of communication on the back end has continued to be a problem this year. One hope was that Al Golden would clean this stuff up,but that has not been the case.
For some of the good stuff Barrett Carter did in the first half, it completely fell apart for him in the second. Here, he misses a tackle in the hole, leading to a huge run by Isaiah Davis. Jordan Battle was hesitant here once again when coming up in run support.
The Bengals were able to hold the Jets to a field goal on that drive. Cam Taylor-Britt came on a blitz. This time, there was no hesitation from a Bengals secondary player; he disrupted the play. The Bengals maintain a 24-16 lead still during the third quarter.
Later in the game, the run defense continues to give up chunk plays. Demetrius...
