CINCINNATI – Despite sitting at 3-5 this season without a single home win in four tries, the Cincinnati Bengals aren’t feeling any pressure.
The bigger problem is that neither are their opponents.
Cincinnati’s pass rush managed just three pressures against the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday’s 37-17 loss.
Only one of those pressures ended with a quarterback hit, when Joseph Ossai took Hurts to the ground on a six-yard completion on third-and-10.
It was the first time since Week 2 against Baltimore last year that the Bengals recorded fewer than two quarterback hits. And their three pressures were the second-fewest in the league this season, behind Jacksonville’s only Week 5 against Indianapolis.
“He never lost his rhythm. He was never uncomfortable, just pocket-wise he was pretty clean all day,” Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said. “In the previous game it was fifteen pitches and forty runs. Yesterday it was 20 pitches, 39 runs. So you have to take them out of those kinds of competitions.”
Even when the Bengals tried to blitz, the pressure got to Hurts too late, if the pressure came at all.
And once Philadelphia took the lead, the Eagles leaned even more toward the run, limiting the pressure Anarumo could apply.
“We kind of played into their hands that way, trying to influence the quarterback with different types of rushes,” he said. “But at that point it was the ball in their court where they could play up front and run the ball and get you in run calls and throw it. But we have to try to influence the quarterback better.”
The Bengals were overly reliant on Trey Hendrickson for most of their pressure, but against the Eagles he was neutralized by former teammate Fred Johnson with two pressures on 18 pass rush snaps.
On the season, the Bengals rank 19th with 92 pressures and 29th with 12 sacks.
“There’s a lot of things we’ve tried,” head coach Zac Taylor said. “There are some things we’ve done in previous games. It’s a challenge. There are times when you press and if you don’t get home the back of the defense is thinned out.
“And if you’re three or four rushing and you don’t get home, then they have to hold their ground at the back, so something that we’re constantly evaluating, trying to disrupt the other team’s attack and just keep working towards it,” he added.
The pass rush problem would be solved once the Bengals got their full defensive linemen back.
Sheldon Rankins, who the Bengals gave a two-year, $24.5 million contract in free agency to be inside a pass rush, missed three games with a hamstring injury. BJ Hill missed two. Myles Murphy, their 2023 first-round pick, was on IR for the first four weeks, as was rookie third-round pick McKinnley Jackson.
And rookie second-round pick Kris Jenkins missed two games with a broken thumb.
The entire group is healthy, but the pass rush is not good outside of Hendrickson, who despite Sunday’s day off, ranks sixth in pressure percentage (10.6) and fifth in winning percentage (21.2).
But through five games, Rankins has four pressures and one sack and ranks 100th out of 120 qualifying defensive tackles in pressure percentage (2.4) and 87th in win percentage (5.8).
Murphy has eight pressures and no sacks through four games. He ranks 62nd out of 117 qualifying edge rushers in pressure rate (5.8) and 108th in win rate (4.3).
Starting defensive end Sam Hubbard ranks 94th in pressure percentage (4.2) and 98th in winning percentage (6.0).
Anarumo said the answer is no more: it’s making their pass rushers win more.
“If we rely on just getting free runners to the quarterback, those (offensive) guys get paid too, and you do get some free runners – that happens – but overall we try to get one-on-one ,” he said sadly. . “We will always try to come up with a plan to definitely get a man out. Two on the back or two on a guard, two on a tackle, we had that once yesterday.
“If we get that one-on-one, those guys have to win more than we are right now.”
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