As we’ve been doing for several years now, we’ll break down the Pittsburgh Steelers’ opponent each week, telling you what to expect from a scheme and individual standpoint. This year, Jonathan Heitritter and I will cover the opposing team’s defense. I will focus on the scheme, Jonathan on the players.
Today, scouting the Cincinnati Bengals’ defense.
ALEX’S SCHEME REPORT
Bengals Run Defense
A group that statistically hasn’t been great and just lost one of its top defensive tackles in D.J. Reader, injured last week and now out for the season with a quad injury. On the year, this unit is allowing 4.7 yards per carry, tied for 3oth in football, and has allowed 15 rushing scores this season, 25th across the league. In Week 12 against the Steelers, Pittsburgh’s backs averaged more than five yards per carry with a rushing score. The Bengals have also allowed 51 runs of 10 or more yards, which ranks 27th.
They still run a four-man front, but I really wouldn’t call it a 4-3. They’re in their 4-2-5 quite often, even against 12 personnel and multiple tight ends. It helps having NCB and ex-Steeler Mike Hilton, whose nine tackles for a loss are second on the team.
Like in the last meeting, the Bengals will also play five-man fronts. Roll a linebacker on the line of scrimmage and you’ll get 5-1 looks.
And for one snap on the goal line against the Vikings, against 23 personnel, they ran a 6-5 “front.” Six defensive linemen, five linebackers. Minnesota still scored.
They defend zone and perimeter runs well overall. If there’s an area I’d attack, it’d be between the tackles. Especially with Reader out. Jonathan will touch on it more in his section but Reader’s replacement, Josh Tupou, did not look good against Minnesota. Watch him get washed out there.
Their two linebackers are their leading tackles. Logan Wilson has 114 while Germaine Pratt has 111. Cincinnati is one of five NFL teams to have two players with 100-plus tackles. Second-year safety Dax Hill has 92 while Hilton has 71 from his slot corner spot (more than he ever had in Pittsburgh).
Some other defensive stats. They’re allowing 22.2 points per game, 19th in football, but have faltered more recently. They’ve given up at least 30 points in three of their last six games and let Pittsburgh break its 400-yard drought in Week 12, though the Steelers still managed to only score 16 points. They are ugly on third down (42.6 percent, 28th) but tighten up in the red zone, 11th-best while allowing opponents to find the end zone 51.9 percent of the time.
Bengals Pass Defense
Middling numbers here. They’ve allowed 18 passing touchdowns on the season, tied for 20th in football, while opposing quarterbacks are completing two-thirds of their passes, 25th. Usually that’s associated with defenses that allow a lower YPA, quarterbacks who keep the ball short, but the Bengals’ 8.0 YPA against is tied for the worst mark in the NFL.
Their pressure is average, their 38 sacks tied for 17th, their 21.9 pressure rate tied for 16th, and their blitz rate is low, 21.9%, which is 25th. One thing they do well? Intercept the football. The Bengals have 15 of them this year, tied for the third-most in the NFL.
Their leading sacker remains RDE Trey Hendrickson, one behind T.J. Watt with 15 on the season. There’s a drop-off to the next man, Sam Hubbard and his five. Bengals DBs have 3.5 combined sacks. Six players have at least two picks so it’s an opportunistic group overall. CB Cam Taylor-Britt, who missed the first Steelers game, leads the way with four of them while LB Logan Wilson has three.
It’s a zone-heavy defense overall. On first downs, the Bengals play a lot of Cover 2 with some different variations of it. Couple examples.
They will blitz from Cover 2, too. On second and medium, they’ll send the nickel corner from the field, dropping the field/blitz side defensive end out, and still play Cover 2 behind. Two examples, one from the Steelers game and the other from last week against the Vikings.
And their blitzes are largely zone blitzes. They don’t blitz often but it comes on third and long where they’ll run mugged and creeper looks, sorta like the Minnesota Vikings, with these potential Cover 0 rushes with the defensive backs in clear coverage playing far off the line. Never know who is coming or dropping and they will often overload one side and drop out the other, even dropping defensive tackles (something Pittsburgh saw in Week 12).
While the Steelers were an impressive 8-of-16 on third down in their first matchup, they were only 3-of-8 on downs needing seven-plus yards and they started the game 1-for-5 before adjusting later. Handling these pressure looks, especially with a less-than-mobile Mason Rudolph, will be key. But mobility is a little less of an asset. It’s about knowing where your hot read is and getting the ball out.
On third down on non-pressure looks, more third and short/medium, the Bengals will man up and play Cover 1/Cover 1 Robber.
Jonathan’s Individual Report
The Pittsburgh Steelers look get back on track as they come back home to play their division rival Cincinnati this coming Saturday. The Bengals currently sit at 8-6 and have managed to stay in the playoff race despite losing QB Joe Burrow for the season. Cincinnati sits 30th in the league in total yards allowed on the season but is 20th in points allowed. They rank 27th in the league against the pass but are third in the NFL with 15 picks on the year. As far as run defense, the Bengals are 28th in football, allowing 128 yards per game.
Defensive Line
DL No. 98 D.J. Reader is out for the rest of the season after tearing his quad tendon last week against the Vikings. The Bengals will rely on his running mate DL #92 B.J. Hill to step up in his absence. Hill came to Cincinnati from the Giants in exchange for OL Billy Price and has made a mark on the defensive line in his three seasons with the team. So far in 2023, Hill has recorded 36 total stops, two tackles for loss, four sacks, a fumble recovery, and five pass breakups. He plays with great effort in pursuit of the football, running down ball carriers while clogging running lanes and pushing the pocket.
The Bengals also have No. 68 Josh Tupou, No. 97 Jay Tufele, and No. 95 Zach Carter rounding out the unit. Tupou is more of a pure run-stuffing nose tackle while Carter and Tufele offer more pass-rush upside as beefed-up defensive ends who can play up and down the line of scrimmage.
On the edges for the Bengals, DE No. 91 Trey Hendrickson headlines the unit as the team’s most accomplished pass rusher. He came over from New Orleans on a big money deal after a breakout season in 2020 and proved he was worth the investment, tallying 22 sacks in his first two seasons with the team. He’s up to 15 sacks and 15 tackles for loss this season. Playing with a motor that is always running hot, he wins as a power rusher and likes to use a chop/swipe move paired with a rip around the edge as a changeup from straight power. He also is a stout run defender, making him a handful for LT Dan Moore Jr. come Saturday.
Opposite of Hendrickson is No. 94 Sam Hubbard, who is a solid second pass rusher and capable run defender for the Bengals. He has five sacks and 50 total tackles on the season. Like Hendrickson, he is a high-effort pass rusher, winning with his hands and pursuit to get into the pocket. He does a great job setting the edge for Cincinnati, stringing out runs toward the sideline while providing great effort in pursuit of the ball.
In terms of backup edge rushers, No. 96 Cam Sample has started in-place of Hubbard when the latter missed some time and is a better run stopper than pass rusher. He’s played a little defensive tackle in sub-packages as well with Reader out of the lineup last week. No. 58 Joseph Ossai has underwhelmed as a pass rusher to this point in his second season while first-round pick No. 99 Myles Murphy has started to pick things up down the stretch of his rookie season. He has posted 17 combined tackles, three tackles for loss, and three sacks as a rotational pass rusher.
Linebackers
The starting inside linebackers for Cincinnati are possibly one of the most underrated tandems in the NFL. No. 55 Logan Wilson signed a nice contract extension with Cincinnati prior to the start of the season, and he’s worth every penny. The Wyoming product plays as the MIKE backer and does it all for the defense, being a sound run defender with great instincts. Wilson currently sits at 114 total tackles, four tackles for loss, a sack, two forced fumbles, seven pass deflections, and three interceptions so far in 2023 as the leader of the linebacking corps. He is instinctual in coverage and flies to the football, being a guy to always account for on the field.
No. 57 Germaine Pratt starts beside Wilson and brings size and strength to the table as a rocked-up inside linebacker. Pratt has good play speed and explosiveness, filling gaps well as a run defender and working off blocks. Due to his size and athleticism, he will also align outside and can set the edge when Cincinnati plays with more defensive linemen. He is a capable coverage defender as well, totaling 111 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles, two pass breakups, and two interceptions. He would have had another one on a pick-six last Saturday if not for an offsides penalty.
Behind them, No. 59 Akeem Davis-Gaither is more of an undersized nickel defender who has played sparingly on defense this season. No. 51 Markus Bailey is more of a run stuffer who primarily plays special teams while No. 49 Joe Bachie provides special teams play as well.
Cornerbacks
The Bengals cornerback room has No. 22 Chidobe Awuzie, who has started to cede playing time to the younger bucks in the room. The long-time starter for Cincinnati and Dallas typically covers the opposing team’s top receiver on the outside. He hasn’t made much of a splash in pass coverage this season (six pass breakups), but he still is an athletic defender who can match up with the best of them in man coverage.
No. 21 Mike Hilton has been recognized as a team captain on defense for the Bengals and has become one of the best slot corners in the game since coming over from Pittsburgh. Hilton made his bones in Pittsburgh as a physical nickel defender who excelled in run defense as well as on the occasional cornerback blitz. He’s up to 71 total stops, nine tackles for loss, a sack, six pass breakups, and two interceptions on the year. Watch out for Hilton to make an impact as a run defender as well as a feisty competitor in coverage.
No. 29 Cam Taylor-Britt was placed on IR on Dec. 4 with an ankle injury, meaning he’ll miss this week’s contest. Rookie No. 20 DJ Turner II has started 10 games for the Bengals this season, having logged five pass breakups along with 20 combined tackles and a sack. Turner has been seeing splitting time with Awuzie as a young, fast cover corner who plays well in man-to-man coverage but can have nuanced route runners give him trouble at times. No. 35 Jalen Davis primarily plays special teams for the Bengals.
Safeties
The Bengals revamped their safety room this offseason, seeing Jesse Bates and Von Bell leave in free agency and elevating former first-round pick No. 23 Daxton Hill. Hill is an athletic, versatile defensive back who played all over the secondary during his time at Michigan: outside corner, single-high safety, split-zone safety, and in the nickel/dime defense as a slot corner. Hill plays all over the place for the Bengals defense as well, currently having 92 total stops, five tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 11 pass deflections, and two picks on the year.
Jordan Battle has started the last four games and has posted 52 total stops, one tackle for loss, one sack, and three pass deflections. No. 33 Nick Scott had stepped into the starting role for Cincinnati at strong safety and fared well in that capacity to start the season. However, the former Ram failed to make many splash plays, ceding his starting role to Battle while taking on more of a third safety role for the Bengals.
