Bengals are in need of a major reset on defense

The Cincinnati Bengals are a mess, and somehow managed to get even messier on Sunday in a 47-42 loss to the Chicago Bears. It dropped them to 3-6, put a potentially devastating dent in whatever small playoff hopes they still had and seemed to result in some post-game finger-pointing from the offense toward the defense.

Running back Chase Brown was asked what he was thinking as the Bears moved down the field to win the game and did not hold back.

"They played really well at the start of the season, they were carrying us on their back. So now that we're stepping up, we just got to play complementary football," said Brown. "We put the ball in the end zone and go up a point at the end, finish the f------- game. Like, just end it. That's what we need to do. Just end the f------ game. Get us the ball back. Let us f------ go to 22 victory, and let's end the game. That's how I feel."

While that is not a direct call-out, it is hard to interpret any other way. What else can "finishing the game" mean in that context? Especially given that the Bengals have now lost back-to-back games in which they have scored 39 and 42 points. 

Bengals defense continues to be liability that is holding franchise back

It would be easy for the Bengals to look at this season and try to excuse it because of the injury to franchise quarterback Joe Burrow. But Burrow's absence is not an issue that is holding the Bengals back. And while that might seem like an insane thing to say about a quarterback as good as him, the reality is the Bengals defense is still scoring at a playoff level. Especially after getting Joe Flacco in a trade from the Cleveland Browns.

In those four games the Bengals have scored 18, 33, 39 and 42 points. How many more could they possibly score with Burrow? The issue remains the same as it was over the past two seasons — their defense can not get a stop, and they have not done anywhere near enough to address it.

They tried to address it this offseason with a coordinator change (bringing in Al Golden) while not making anywhere near enough changes to the personnel at his disposal. Over the past three years the Bengals have ranked 21st, 25th and now 32nd in points allowed, while finishing 31st, 25th and 32nd in yards allowed per game. 

It's unacceptable, and it's wasted some prime years of one of the NFL's best quarterbacks and one of the NFL's best wide receiver duos. It has resulted in the Bengals, as of Sunday, going 21-22 overall since the start of the 2023 season and having zero playoff appearances to show for it.

This is not something that can be fixed with a new coordinator or a first-round pick. This defense needs completely torn down to the foundation and rebuilt back up. It needs new coaching, new personnel, a new mindset and a new everything. If they do not fix it, they will continue to waste an offense that should be good enough to compete with.