The Cincinnati Bengals are left scrambling for answers after the New England Patriots set fire to what had been a perfect winning formula in 2014. Tom Brady and the Patriots buried the Bengals in New England with a 43-17 win, that exposed the Bengals on multiple fronts. One aspect of that game that’s been lost in the shuffle was how badly the Patriots ran on the Bengals in that game. If Cincy is serious about making a run for the Super Bowl, they’ll need to address that growing weakness in their run defense sooner rather than later.
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Pro Football Focus recently rated the Bengals as having the worst rush defense in the league. Make of that stat what you will, but no one assumed the Bengals would struggle on defense, especially against the run, in 2014, which has made it all the more disconcerting that this team has currently allowed the sixth-most rushing yards per game.
The Patriots ran for 220 yards against the Bengals, which was overshadowed by the resurgence of Tom Brady, as was to be expected, but the Bengals should be more worried about the former.
This could just be a fact that highlights how much the Bengals miss linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who has missed time since Week 2 as he deals with concussion issues, but a contender like Cincinnati needs to be better than one injury. And if injuries are one factor, then communication is another in what could be an ongoing issue for a suddenly exposed Bengals squad.
“We didn’t have our calls in,” Bengals defensive tackle Domata Peko said, per ESPN, of the moments when Brady would line up under center even as the Bengals still tried to call plays. “We were still looking at the sideline trying to get a call in and they had their hands on the ball already, snapping before we were even ready.”
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