Lou speaks on the state of the defense

[SunsetBengal]

Coach Lou pretty much affirming everything that many of us have been thinking and saying for much of the season.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/the-future-is-today-bengals-dc-lou-anarumo-says-young-secondary-needs-to-grow-up-now/ar-AA1m7GSS?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=19ce5a2f6c274788b2207901ccd40b05&ei=77

Quote:Fifteen games into a 17-game season, Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo doesn’t want to talk about the youth in his secondary being the reason for another explosive performance by an opponent, this one an offensively challenged one that had just benched its backup quarterback for its third-string guy.

The first pass Pittsburgh’s Mason Rudolph threw as a starting quarterback in more than two years was a five-yard slant that wide receiver George Pickens, with help from the Cincinnati defense, turned into an 86-yard touchdown on Saturday afternoon.

And things somehow only got worse for the Bengals as Pickens burned them for a 44-yard reception to set up a field goal at the end of the half and a 66-yard touchdown early in the third quarter of Pittsburgh’s 34-11 win.
Why Is the Cincinnati Bengals’ Defense Getting Burned So Much?
“I don’t want to make excuses for anything, but we can’t win a football game if we give up 200 yards on three plays. We can’t,” Anarumo said Wednesday.

“I told them the other day, I said, ‘We are what we are right now. These things have to stop in order for us to be a consistent defense. These are things that have not shown up in a long, long time, but they’ve shown up this year. So whatever the reasons are, we will keep working at it like we’re doing, but they can’t continue.’

“We got punched right in the lip,” Anarumo added. “We’ll bounce back, but we have to stop these big plays. Let’s call it what it is.”

The Bengals have given up 59 completions of 20 yards or more this season. Only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have allowed more (62). Since the NFL went to the 17-game schedule in 2021, the most allowed in a season is 74 by the 2021 Baltimore Ravens. The 2021 Bengals are third on the list with 65, and this year’s 59 ranks 11th.

Cincinnati’s offense offset the 65 chunk plays in 2021 with its own explosives, but that’s been missing in 2023 with Joe Burrow playing through a calf injury for most of the year and backup Jake Browning starting the last five games following Burrow’s wrist injury.

A secondary coach before he became the Cincinnati defensive coordinator in 2019, Anarumo has stayed away from playing rookies most of his career, but this year’s defense features one safety who is a rookie third-round pick in Jordan Battle and another who is in his first year starting in Dax Hill.

Rookie second-round pick DJ Turner II has started 11 games at corner, and 2022 second-round pick Cam Taylor-Britt is in his first full season as a starter after taking over at midseason last year.

“A lot of firsts,” Anarumo said. “Some of it is still lessons that these guys are learning, and we will be better for it in the future. I keep saying that, but unfortunately, the future is like today. And we have to get better at these things immediately.

“We try to stay calm and settle them down on the sideline and [saying] just keep fighting and playing with the technique the coaches are teaching you,” he continued. “They want to be good. They’re great listeners. They’re very willing participants. It’s just a matter of tightening it down on every little detail of what their jobs are. We’ve got to get better, and that includes myself.”

There’s something to be said for staying the course and remaining calm, but there also comes a time when a point needs to be driven home.

We saw that Saturday night when Anarumo called the entire defense together on the sideline after falling in a 14-0 hole.

Asked how many times he’s done that, he said, “Never.”

Tack on another one of those “firsts” for the 2023 Bengals defense.

“I just felt like we were out of sorts,” Anarumo said of the impromptu group meeting. “Didn’t like the way things were going, obviously. I just called them up, and I said, ‘We’ve got to settle down and get back to doing what we do.’ I wanted to make sure they heard from me before we got to the locker room at halftime.”

The Bengals are disappointed by the amount of explosive plays they’ve allowed this year, and this week’s opponent, the Kansas City Chiefs, probably feel the same way about the uncharacteristically few they have produced.

Anarumo said he expects Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes to come out firing on Sunday to try to break out of their funk that has led to three losses in the last four games and four in the last six as the Chiefs have yet to clinch a playoff berth.

“I know this: They’re the world champs,” Anarumo said. “They’ve got arguably the best quarterback in our league for a long time. They’re a prideful group, and they’re going to look to get back on track and do what they do well.

“They’re just gonna chuck it down the field even more, in my opinion. I see them just being really aggressive, and it’s not going to surprise me one bit. I really think that’s how they’ll come out.”

A neutered offense versus an exploited defense after each unit has represented the AFC in the last two Super Bowls. Wounded pride. Desperation. Playoff hopes are on the line.

It’s not where everyone expected the Bengals and Chiefs to be in Week 17 when the schedule came out in May, but as has been the case in each of their four meetings since January 2022, a lot is on the line — both in terms of playoffs, and just sheer pride.

“The NFL is a very humbling league,” Anarumo said. “You can have a great week or two, you can have a great year or two, and then all of a sudden you get kicked right in the face.

“There’s not a guy in [our] locker room that’s not feeling good about, ‘Hey, we got a chance to go out there and do what we know we can do.’ But it’s not about talking about it, it’s about doing it.”