No choice remains: Bengals must blow up everything on defense

CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow’s words and actions will always carry the most weight of any individual without a corner office at Paycor Stadium.

They spoke loud and clear.

“We need to change a lot of things this year,” Burrow said. “We haven’t been good enough to win games.”

Correction: The defense hasn’t been good enough to win games. And that might be the kindest way to put what’s gone on for two years now for one of the worst individual units in franchise history.

The unofficial final flush of a season circling the drain for months came at the hands of a Steelers offense that recently broke a streak of seven consecutive quarters without scoring a touchdown. On Sunday, they posted 37 offensive points and 516 yards of offense. Final score: Steelers 44, Bengals 38.

Joe Burrow speaks to the media following Week 13.

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 1, 2024

It’s a fitting conclusion to a season where the Bengals now hold the NFL record for most losses in a single season when scoring at least 33 points. They are 2-4 in such games. The rest of the league this year is 51-1.

Burrow, offering his latest postgame eulogy, admitted the pressure wears on him. It affects how he plays. It forces him to take more hits. It slims the margin for error. It shipped arguably his best season into irrelevance.

“I feel it,” Burrow said. “You know, I feel the pressure on me to be great. That’s part of playing quarterback in the NFL. I just have to play to the absolute peak of my ability every week for us to go and win. Some games, I’ve done that. Some games, I haven’t.”

Is that a sustainable way to play the position?

“I feel like I can do anything,” Burrow said.

That’s where he’s wrong. Even Burrow at his best with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in a season that began with an expectation of a Super Bowl run and an all-in feel can’t carry this disastrous defense.

He just threw for 300-plus yards and posted 30-plus points three weeks in a row and lost all three games to kill the season. Week after week the defense can’t tackle, can’t cover, can’t get a stop after a turnover, can’t stop the bleeding, can’t rush the passer, can’t clearly see Justin Fields running the ball is a primary option in the fourth quarter and can’t properly support Burrow.

“A slide by Fields and that’s gonna do it!”

The @steelers close out strong pic.twitter.com/jsJIMINvbW

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 1, 2024

In case there was hope before, Sunday left no doubt. The Bengals must blow up the defense this offseason. From top to bottom, no coach or player is beyond reproach. There can be no injury excuses. There can be no scapegoating of a position group as was the case explaining away the ugly 2023 performance.

They must hit the hard reset. That starts with defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo.

That’s a hard pill to swallow around these parts. Anarumo has been beloved. He drew the nickname “The Mad Scientist” and was their antidote to Patrick Mahomes. He accomplished incredible things in Cincinnati. He was on the brink of a deserved head-coaching job just two cycles ago. It’s not that he forgot how to coach. The message is not connecting here anymore.

Nine of the Bengals’ last 11 top-100 picks came on the defensive side. They aren’t developing. Find a name on the list that has made a positive career progression this year. Maybe two.

• 2024 Kris Jenkins (46)
• 2024 McKinnley Jackson (97)
• 2023 Myles Murphy (28)
• 2023 DJ Turner (60)
• 2023 Jordan Battle (95)
• 2022 Dax Hill (30)
• 2022 Cam Taylor-Britt (60)
• 2022 Zach Carter (95)
• 2021 Joseph Ossai (69)

They must get more out of the young players. For two years, that hasn’t happened. Name a young defensive player you confidently build around. Name a defensive player that you confidently slot in as a starter in 2025. The list is on one hand and it’s not offering a high-5.

The front office is at fault, as well. Of course they are. This many top picks can’t whiff. This many free-agent acquisitions can’t flop — Geno Stone, Vonn Bell and Sheldon Rankins are this year’s examples. They can’t fail to find answers at defensive tackle and cornerback with obvious issues with depth and talent, both in the offseason and during the year.

All the player acquisition and development must improve to avoid another year like this one. But there are only a few building blocks on this roster. It all must change or this season of frustration will eventually poison the entire building, the quarterback included.

“You put up 38 points on that type of defense you expect to win those type of games,” cornerback Mike Hilton said. “On our side of the ball, it hasn’t been good enough all year. We can’t be mad at anybody but ourselves.”

Consider the historical nature of this season, with five games remaining.

Five times the Bengals have given up at least 6.5 yards per play and 34 points this season. That is tied for the second most in a season in NFL history. Detroit set the record with six such games in 2020.

There have been five games this season where a team allowed at least 500 yards and 40 points, the Bengals have two of them.

The Bengals are now 0-7 against teams that would make the playoffs if the season ended today. They allowed 36.4 points per game in those contests.

The four losses when scoring at least 33 points this year, that’s more than any other franchise in the last four seasons combined.

“We’ve had little margin for error (for a while),” Chase said.

After the game, they were largely lost on answers. Linebacker Germaine Pratt even balked at the idea that the defense had a problem with missed tackles or the issues were anything other than quarterback Russell Wilson getting the ball out quickly. A stunning admission from a captain and veteran communicator.

Questions were asked after the game if the problems were related to scheme or personnel and nobody wanted to touch on that. As for if the messaging on the coaching side is getting through, head coach Zac Taylor offered this thought.

“I do, because you’re seeing moments where they’re getting us back in the game,” he said. “It’s in the second half — sometimes it’s too little, too late. We’re still having our opportunities there. Again, we’ve got good leadership on that side. Guys I trust, guys that it means a lot to them. At this point, we’re counting on everybody to stick together and find a way to make some plays to get us some wins.”

Those wins now mean nothing. Thanks to Sunday where missed tackles littered every big play from explosive screens to touchdowns to the simplest tackles on checkdowns. Players were out of position on a late Cover-0, allowing Wilson to find wide-open receivers while throwing for 413 yards — his most in a game since 2017. Running back Najee Harris was somehow untouched on a 10-yard touchdown run off tackle. They allowed 10 gains of at least 20 yards.

From scheme to effort to execution, it all looked pathetic. Off a bye week. With the season again in the balance.

Burrow can make up for miles of organizational warts. He can’t cover this. It’s time to blow the defense up, everyone on the chopping block. They made that decision clear on Sunday.

Burrow’s voice will eventually be heard. It should start with what he said on Sunday.

“You try to give your opinion in ways that you feel comes off the best,” he said. “This is a tough season and the cornerstones of this organization are going to be remembered by more than this season. We will be remembered by how we handle this.”

It cost a swing in the Super Bowl window this season. It can’t cost another.

(Photo of Najee Harris scoring a touchdown Sunday: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)