Cincinnati Bengals: Keys to victory vs. Falcons in Week 4
By Kenn Korb
Will Atlanta’s Replacements Hold Up On Defense?
The strengths of Atlanta’s defense in recent years have rested on the shoulders of a couple young players: Deion Jones and Keanu Neal.
Jones has been the extra-fast linebacker who covers ground in an instant, removing any space for error by opposing offenses and limiting the scope of the plays which do manage to happen. Neal was drafted to be Atlanta’s very own Kam Chancellor, an enforcer who could make punishing hits and give the secondary swagger.
It hasn’t turned into any full-season dominance for the Falcons on that side of the ball, but the duo is the heart of the best aspects of the defensive side of the ball. With both in their third years, this looked set to be the season when those two could lead that Falcons defense to being a unit more in the vein of head coach Dan Quinn’s old units back in his time with the Seahawks.
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If that ever happens though, it won’t be until at least 2019. Jones is on injured reserve with a foot injury, but while he may return in Week 10, Neal is done for the full year due to tearing his ACL in Week 1. The players in their place are not nearly as effective, but the team has no choice but to rely on them since the expected starters are out of commission.
In Jones’ place has been Duke Riley, a second-year linebacker with just 223 defensive snaps under his belt before this season. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) graded him out with a 54.5 for his time on the field. This year, he’s already up to 130 snaps, but in them he’s managed to be even more susceptible to being taken advantage of by offense (PFF grade: 51.6).
He has done little in terms of making an impact. Rather, he’s more so found himself making routine tackles and little else (53 tackles in his 353 career defensive snaps and the only other box score stat he’s accumulated is one pass knockdown).
For the most part, things have been better for Neal’s replacement. Damontae Kazee is a second-year safety who had a small role as a rookie but showed a knack for forcing turnovers (3 forced fumbles in just 163 defensive snaps in 2017).
His play has stepped up majorly since Neal went down and he was inserted as a starter (PFF grade has risen from 65.4 in 2017 to 75.0 in 2018). When he’s been on the field he’s been good in coverage, but his overt aggressiveness got him ejected in Week 2 after a late hit on Cam Newton while he was sliding.
Despite any individual positives by Kazee or any other Falcons’ defender this year though, Atlanta’s defense has been beaten with regularity in 2018. They have allowed the eighth-most points in the league through three games, so despite having an offense which scored 80 points in three games so far, the team actually has a -5 point differential. Only two defenses are worse in terms of Football Outsiders’ Overall Defensive DVOA — and nobody is worse in terms of Run Defense DVOA.
It all means this defense is ripe for the taking, if Cincinnati’s offense is ready to do so. Andy Dalton must recover from a four-pick debacle, but if he can conjure up even a smidgen of what he showed just a week before, he has the weaponry to put up points on this group. Riley and Kazee should be at the center of the action — for better or worse. Should they do well, Cincinnati’s in trouble. If not, the Bengals could perform a surprising upset on the road.