Bengals Film Room: Mental errors prove costly vs. Eagles

The problems on defense are between their ears

The Cincinnati Bengals have talent on defense, but they have too many blown coverages, mental errors, and communication breakdowns to beat teams like the Philadelphia Eagles.

Granted, the Bengals have some real personnel problems on the defensive line, but they have one guy who is capable of generating edge pressure. BJ Hill is a good player. While Sheldon Rankins was a good addition, he did not replace DJ Reader as a run-stopping defensive tackle. The combination of rookies Kris Jenkins and McKinnley Jackson is a promising combination, but they’re not there yet.

The fact remains that this defense is its own worst enemy.

Here are a couple of examples vs. the Eagles.

The 3rd and 16 conversation was a low point for the Bengals defense, but why did it happen? How did they drop eight players into coverage and still allow a reception for the first down?

Check out the picture before.

The player circled was later identified as Akeem Davis-Gaither,

The Bengals are in what I call Cover 2-extra. Here is how it works. Traditionally, offenses attack Cover 2 by working a high/low on the mike linebacker. If the linebacker sits low, they throw it over his head and between the safeties. If he runs deep (i.e. Tampa 2), the ball will go to an underneath route over the middle.

In Cover 2-extra, the defense is rushing only three, so they have an eighth defender to drop into coverage, which allows them to play the middle hole underneath and still have a run-through Tampa-2 linebacker.

Here, Logan Wilson runs deep, and Germaine Pratt plays the underneath hole. Davis-Gaither seems to be fixated on the running back in the flat, but in zone coverage, you shouldn’t cover routes under five yards (especially on, you know, 3rd and 16) and rally up to make a tackle if the ball is thrown there.

Davis-Gaither should be dropping into the hook/curl, which would put him inside the curl route by AJ Brown at the bottom of the screen.

Cam Taylor Britt is in a fine position as the Cover-2 cornerback, but he should read and react to the throw quicker and be able to contest this catch.

The Bengals have good players in the secondary and at linebacker, but breakdowns like these are costing them on a consistent basis.

This is a 5-man front, which should be very difficult to run on, and yet, here we are. Jackson is playing too far off the ball and allows the center to get to the second level, basically uncontested as a result.

This is particularly frustrating because you run a five-man front specifically, so the offensive line cannot get to the linebackers, but that’s not the worst part. The motion, which is pretty standard, seems to confuse the defense. Germaine Pratt leaves the box to honor the jet motion and is right to do so, but that means DJ Turner now has to enter the box and essentially become a linebacker. Not an ideal situation.

When the run occurs, Turner runs wide as if to be the outside support player (likely his job before the motion) and Logan Wilson plays the cutback player from the backside. No one plays the A Gap, and Saquan Barkley takes it for a gain of 19.

Prior to the motion, Wilson would have been the A-gap player and Pratt would have had the cutback, but the shift put Turner into a role he shouldn’t be in and either he didn’t know he had the A Gap or he just had no interest in doing it.

Nick Scott and Dax Hill were blamed for the miscommunication in this defensive unit last season, but after bringing back Vonn Bell and adding veteran Geno Stone, the same problems persist. This unit has not been properly prepared and appears unmotivated and unfocused.

They are physically capable, but mental mistakes are killing them.