(From across the street) -
Don?t be surprised if the narrative going into this game makes it seem like beating the Rams in their own stadium is too tall of a task for the Bengals. The Rams have one of the league?s best CBs, WRs, DTs and Offensive Lines. It seems too easy to reduce the conversation down to Ramsey shutting down Chase and the Rams Defensive Line over-powering the Bengals sub-par OL. On paper (to some people), this may even look like a mismatch.
But it is the Bengals defense that should be talked about leading up to the Super Bowl. This defense is legit. In fact, it?s good enough to hoist the Lombardi trophy on their own even if the offense has an average day.
And it all happened relatively quickly. Last season their DVOA fluctuated between 27th and 30th in the league. This season it jumped all the way to 5th. Cincinnati made it a priority to build a defense that could put the brakes on the best offenses in the AFC. In the offseason they cemented their vision by signing defensive starters C. Awuzie (CB), L. Ogunjobi & T. Hendrickson (DL), M. Hilton & E. Apple (CBs) as well as trading for BJ Hill (DT).
It took a bit for the defense to really gel, but it looks like they found their stride coming down the stretch of the regular season. And now this unit seems to get better every time they take the field. Especially in the 2nd Half. Sparkling performances in the 2nd Half has allowed the offense to make huge comebacks.
The most impressive was last weekend, holding the Chiefs to just 3 points and 83 yards in the second half. The Bengal defense also came up with 2 huge INTs versus Mahomes, just like the 3 INTs they took from Tannehill. The secondary is playing lights out football. Bates and Bell are old school tough heavy hitters, more than happy to clean up anything that falls onto their plates.
Normally playing single-high safety looks or 2-high shells based on opponent, the Bengals have not been afraid to mix it up. In the playoffs they?ve been making a lot of changes to their looks and even going as far disguising their disguises. Stafford does better vs man defenses, than zones, so expect multiple disguised zone looks from the Bengals.
The DL is good enough that Bengals most often opt to not blitz in neutral situations, further aiding their stellar secondary. And when they want to bring some extra heat on obvious passing downs, they are not afraid to bring Hilton (CB) on nickel corner blitzes, or bringing Bates or Bell down to clog passing lanes or rush the passer themselves. This is a fun defense to watch.
True or False: Defense wins championships
