Cincinnati Bengals: Negatives of team’s 2-3 start
By Kenn Korb
As they exit their bye week, we look at the negatives for the Cincinnati Bengals during their 2-3 start to the 2017 season.
Through five games, the Cincinnati Bengals sit at 2-3. This record isn’t exactly sterling, but it isn’t all that terrible either. It has been formed through circumstances and outcomes both good and bad, and the trends in either direction can be a great indicator of why this team will or won’t be able to recover from their slow start to still make this into a successful season.
Let’s look into the negatives of their start, beginning with the secondary.
3. Cornerbacks Are A Prime Target
Through the rough start for the team, the defense has been the bright spot. It hasn’t been a perfect unit by any means, however. For proof, look no further than the cornerback position.
This group came in thought of as perhaps one of the deeper groupings in the entire league. They were lacking in the shutdown talents to be sure, but in terms of having capable, quality options in abundance to throw out against the opposition, you would have been hard-pressed to place many teams above their group coming into 2017. Apparently, that was erroneous thinking. In fact, the group has been polar opposite of expectations in every way imaginable.
Dre Kirkpatrick signed a big contract to be Cincinnati’s No. 1 corner of the present and future; so far, he’s put up the worst Pro Football Focus Edge grade of any Cincinnati cornerback (47.6). Adam Jones was supposed to be their physical veteran who would make things rough on opposing receivers; instead, he’s barely been on the field the past two games (30 total snaps) due to injuries, and has been below-average on a per-play basis (67.1 PFF grade).
Josh Shaw was a quality nickel corner last year that could play some safety. Despite his versatility, only Kirkpatrick has graded out worse than Shaw’s 49.5 PFF grade through five games. William Jackson III was drafted in the first round in the 2016 draft to be a playmaker. While he’s made some big ones this year (the 75-yard pick-six return off of Aaron Rodgers against Green Bay), he’s been a target that’s been taken advantage of more often than not.
The lackluster play of those aforementioned hasn’t destroyed the defense as a whole. They were still ranked No. 2 in Football Outsiders’ Defensive DVOA through five weeks — including No. 5 in Pass Defense DVOA. But not having a reliable secondary can and already has helped undercut strong performances from the group.
Blown coverages, missed tackles, and numerous penalties by secondary players have been a rampant culprit on key opposing scoring drives in each of Cincinnati’s losses. The Ravens game probably would remain a loss, but penalties by Kirkpatrick and Jackson III helped keep two separate field goal drives alive — enough to make it a three-score game rather that just two-score; seeing as removing the field goals would mean Baltimore’s scoring had stopped before halftime, giving Cincinnati more time before they would’ve needed to force the issue.
The other two losses are much clearer. Better pursuit and tackling on DeShaun Watson’s eventual touchdown run or Jones not committing defensive pass interference on a later field goal drive could’ve easily provided a win against Houston, and a different result on one of a half-dozen plays against Green Bay (some penalties, some just poor coverage) would’ve almost certainly kept the Packers from fulfilling their comeback before it began.
Cornerback play has been better in these past two victories, but that has also been against subpar competition: in terms of Pass Offense DVOA, Buffalo is No. 18 and Cleveland is No. 31. Lucky for them, non-elite matchups litter the rest of the schedule. Only one team remaining on their schedule is currently above No. 15 in Pass Defense DVOA — and that’s a Case Keenum-led Minnesota unit.
They do have some other talented groups to face (specifically, Pittsburgh twice), but it’d be tough to find a more pleasant slate awaiting a maligned unit than what Cincinnati’s secondary is about to go against. If they can’t perform better than they have so far, the cornerback group will require a major shakeup after the season.