Germaine Pratt Channeling His Inner Peanut Tillman During Bengals' Four-Game Winning Streak

Germaine Pratt continues to have an incredible impact on the outcome of Bengals games.

He led the team with 11 tackles in Cincinnati's Week 9 win over Buffalo, hitting the double digit mark for the third time this year. The 27-year-old has 60 tackles (38 solo), one sack, and an interception in eight games. He's currently on pace to set new career highs in all three categories.

With the Bills trailing Cincinnati 21-10 and needing a score in the fourth quarter, Buffalo went no huddle. Allen was in shotgun and found Dalton Kincaid up the middle for 11 yards. The next thing fans knew Kincaid was flipping up in the air thanks to Nick Scott. As the rookie was coming back down to earth, Pratt punched the ball out allowing Scott to recover on the Cincinnati 13-yard line.

“Well, I got beat on the inside route so I was like ‘sh**, hey my fault.’ So I had to do something fast, create a turnover, make a bad play into good play,” Germaine Pratt told All Bengals. “Scott did a great thing flipping him into the air and that’s the most time he’s vulnerable, he’s going to the ground with the ball lose so I punched it out."

It was the second-straight week that Pratt forced a turnover in the red zone. 

"That’s why he’s got a lot of nicknames," Bengals linebackers coach James Bettcher told All Bengals. “He just got beat inside, he was in the right spot technically but he got beat across his face in coverage and he just recovered well. When the ball shows what Germaine does when the ball is there to be taken, Germaine takes the ball away."

"Playoff P" has been doing this for a while. Since the start of the 2021 season, Pratt is one of five NFL players with at least five forced fumbles and five interceptions. 

When Pratt heard I was writing this story, he looked up at me from his locker and asked one question: “Why?” 

He laughed off the turnover statistic, even though he's just one of five players to accomplish that feat. In Pratt’s eyes, those types of plays and the culmination of game changing stats is more of an every day expectation more than something to gloat about.

“It just means I’m getting to the ball a lot,” Pratt said. “Getting the ball back to the offense that’s the main goal, a main goal of mine is just create a turnover and help the team win.”

The defense as a whole has big goals, and the thirst for turnovers never seems to be satisfied for this group.

“Turnovers win games, that's what we pride ourselves on, creating at least two turnovers each game. Having a corner like Cam (Taylor-Britt) getting three picks in four weeks is huge, we haven’t seen that in a minute,” Pratt said. “I’m just happy for him and that’s growing as a defensive unit. The line working together, the linebackers working together and then safeties working together and we just come in and compete as one. We are able to communicate, play fast and create turnovers.”

Bettcher was the defensive coordinator for the Cardinals before having the same role with the Giants. He met current Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo in New York. After a year with the San Francisco 49ers, Bettcher found himself in Cincinnati working with Anarumo once again.

“I love working with him, he’s a close friend of mine,” Bettcher said. “We see football so similar, we see the game so similar and its fun to be in a meeting room and talk through things and hear his perspective on those things and how we can attack people and how we can adjust each and every week. One of the great things Lou does is he tries to make some of the same things look different and we have different things that look the same.”

It takes a few years for some players to feel fully comfortable, but once they understand exactly what Anarumo wants from them they’re able to execute and play at the speed necessary to create turnovers on a consistent basis. The addition of Bettcher to the coaching staff has helped Pratt elevate his game.

“Coach Bettch has helped me out a lot,” Pratt said. “I pick his brain to see how he’s looking at it, how it looks through his lense. He’s developed me so much over time so I want to challenge him and see how he is seeing the game versus how I’m seeing the game and keep on growing.”

Pratt is seeing the game much differently than he did a few years ago. Knowing tendencies of specific players has helped him become a ballhawk. 

“You’ve got to learn the person. Understand their tendencies and understand what they like to do because in critical situations they’re always going to go back to their tendencies, their character, who they are,” he said. “It’s cool to understand and see how they really try to attack you.”

The 27-year-old starts watching film of the next opponent just a few hours after the conclusion of their last game. He wakes up early the next day to watch more. Overall, he watches an extra 3-4 hours of film away from the stadium and his normal responsibilities to make sure that he’s not caught off guard by anything on game day.

Pratt's teammates are taking notice of his skillset and special ability to force turnovers.

“The only person that I can think of with that type of ability is Peanut (Charles) Tillman. His ability to find the ball and for it to be a conscious thought all the time is really tough," Scott said. “Tougher than people think as a defender. A lot of times you get people in space and you think, ‘I’ve got to get him on the ground’ but GP is always looking for the ball so I just commend him and his approach to this game.”

If you’ve ever watched Pratt and thought of Charles Tillman, you’re on the right track. Pratt grew up a Panthers fan and started paying attention to the Peanut punch in Tillman’s final year in the league (2015). Pratt went back and studied what the All-Pro was able to do in his 12 seasons in Chicago, racking up 42 forced fumbles, three sacks, 36 interceptions, and 8 touchdowns in that span.

“I just watched Chris Peanut Tillman, watching the way he attacks the ball,” Pratt explained. “I saw the way he started playing for the panthers and stuff, then I watched him definitely with the bears because he was punching the ball out a lot.”

Tillman was a cornerback, but Pratt’s ability to force turnovers looks a lot like the former Bears great. 

“Always attacking the football and ultimately you can’t attack the ball unless you’re around the ball so the motor that guy played with, I remember him running around the field hitting people… run and hit, run and hit, and all of a sudden knocking the ball out,” Bettcher said. “If you build your game around getting to the ball and playing hard every down you find a way to create some of those opportunities and you see Germaine doing that.”

In Cincinnati’s five wins so far this season, only the Cardinals have been able to score 20 points. The Bengals held the Seahawks, 49ers, and Bills under 20, which has been another goal on the priority list for this defense.

“We have a goal to keep people under 20 and if you do that we have a pretty special offense on the other side,” Bettcher said. “Lou has a saying, ‘points not yards.’ People are going to play on us. It's like OK, reload, next snap the defend the next blade of grass, and then OK they get a play, reload and defend the next play. We do that all the way down the field and we are going to make people earn things.”

Cincinnati will certainly plan on forcing CJ Stroud to earn every single inch in Sunday’s bout with Houston.

Stroud completed 30-of-42 passes for 470 yards and five touchdowns against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 9. The rookie quarterback has the attention of the Bengals defense.

“I don’t care who you’re playing against. If you’re throwing for 470 you’re going something right,” Pratt said. “He understands the game and he’s going against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers which is a great group of guys. Some of those guys was in the Super Bowl when they won, so its not just any average Joe out there. I think he’s a very good quarterback. Personally, I ain't sleeping on him. I don’t think anybody should sleep on him the way he’s throwing the ball.”

Containing Stroud will be a big key in the team’s short term goal of earning their fifth-straight win at home before turning around four days later to play the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football in Week 11.