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Bengals are getting exactly what they put in their defense, and any anger should be directed toward the top
© Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Bengals are getting exactly what they put in their defense, and any anger should be directed toward the top

Originally posted on A to Z Sports  |  By John Sheeran  |  Last updated Nov 3, 2025 2:07 PM ET

The Cincinnati Bengals' defense is lightyears apart from their offense, and I mean that quite literally.

Stars are separated by lightyears, and therefore the planetary systems that revolve around them are as well. The star of our solar system is the Sun, and Earth is bountiful because of its presence. Some systems even have two stars, aptly called binary systems.

The Bengals' offense can be classified as a binary system right now. Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins' sheer existence and talent have allowed quarterback Joe Flacco to have the best four-game stretch of his 18-year career despite being thrusted into the offense on the fly. The unit is raised by its best players taking command and leading ancillary pieces alongside them. Not every player is great, much like not every planet in the Solar System is built for life, but Cincinnati identified how to best construct its offense, maintain it through contractual investments, and the result is one of the NFL's best scoring teams over the last two seasons when a competent QB is taking the snaps.

Lightyears away in a vast void of dark matter is the Bengals' defense. It's not only the worst defense in the league today, and but the worst in recent memory. They're allergic to tackling, sacking the QB, and stopping the ball from finding their own end zone. They're fundamentally terrible at performing the most fundamental tasks. Further evidence was provided thanks to a 42-47 loss to the Chicago Bears featuring a last-minute collapse of cosmological proportions.

Reactions to the loss have centered around the lack of reaction from this collection of rogue planets and empty space. This defense gave up 47 points one week after allowing 39. It seems like they've missed about that many tackles as well. And yet, there's no one a part of the maligned group showing any sense of fight or desire to crawl out of the hellscape they reside in. Ja'Marr Chase and Chase Brown have gone viral for their angst, and they aren't even responsible for the worst parts of the team.

If you're going to be awful, isn't being awfully angry about it the least you can do?

I'm here to say no, because what's the use of getting angry when a plan so terribly built on blind hope fails so miserably? That's what has happened with Cincinnati on defense this year.

Bengals have no one to blame but themselves for defense falling to rock bottom

It's easy and oftentimes correct to point the finger at the players on the field. They're the ones fans watch and invest time, money, and emotional stability in for 17 weeks of the year.

In the moment, the players are to blame for failing on the field. When the game is over and done with, things start to look a bit clearer.

This defense has Geno Stone and Jordan Battle starting at safety. Rookies Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter are the linebackers. Myles Murphy and Shemar Stewart are playing significant snaps at defensive end, as are Kris Jenkins Jr. and Jordan Jefferson at defensive tackle. Cam Taylor-Britt is still out there at cornerback.

I did not list a single quality player who would start or have a significant role on any other defense in the league. Not one. Zero.

This was the plan. Starting and featuring these players WAS THE PLAN.

The competency Cincinnati has in building its offense does not exist on the other side of the ball. Chase, Higgins, and Joe Burrow are the stars and were eventually taken care of by the front office. Around them are capable young players found through the NFL Draft, and a handful of quality veterans found through free agency. It's not a perfect group, but the talent and leadership are more than enough to compete.

Compare that to the other side of the ball. Trey Hendrickson is the top asset and was handed a modest pay raise when a long-term extension was the rightful goal. Nearly every single draft pick spent on defense has been wasted, and free agency dollars haven't gone much further.

The true leaders of the group are gone, and not because of their desire to leave. Jessie Bates III and DJ Reader know all too well about the front office's disdain for properly compensating players who don't play offense. There have been logical departures of leadership ala Sam Hubbard and Vonn Bell due to age and regression, but the process of replacing once quality starters has been anything but sustainable.

Replace them with smart picks made in the draft. Identify good players who can develop into leaders. Don't hone in on intangibles attached to players with much harder paths to becoming good against professionals.

Oops. The opposite happened.

This has been an issue going all the way back to 2022, but everything that's gone down since the firing of defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and the hiring of Al Golden in January has been built on baseless hope. Hope that risky draft picks could bear improbable fruit. Hope that those same players would fill leadership roles. Hope that minimal free agency activity wouldn't come back to bite them.

Hope has failed them. Hilariously bad. That's not something I place on the players in the slightest.

Anger at Cincinnati's defense should be directed at those responsible

When players who were never good in the first place are left without answers on the ground level, your eyes should be diverted to the upper floors of the building. Who was responsible for putting them together all carelessly like this, without any safeguards in sight?

Should they be mad at each other for being set up to fail, or should those who put the directionless plan in place feel the heat instead? The answer seems obvious to me.

That doesn't mean accountability goes out the window. There should always be a level of pride players should have in what they show on the field, and when it doesn't match their own standards, owning that is a must.

But at a certain point, these guys are who they are. The players in the building aren't enough to turn this disaster around, and it's not their fault that's the case. It's not their fault they're ill-equipped to complement the other side of the ball. It's not their fault they're in another part of the universe without any star tethering them away from chaos.

Executive Vice President Katie Blackburn, Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin, and the pillars of the front office and personnel department are responsible for this calamity.

If there's any anger coming from the building, it should be directed at them.

This article was originally published on A to Z Sports Cincinnati Bengals, as Bengals are getting exactly what they put in their defense, and any anger should be directed toward the top.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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