Seems the defense players had a meeting yesterday to try and figure it out.

https://www.cincyjungle.com/2024/10/10/24266970/bengals-defense-players-only-meeting-giants-game?fbclid=IwY2xjawF1EOxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHUJYRa-CU69NsZDQjJTgPtEQSuUnol1ORMwKZO_7Tlmb41HDadTG4VsllQ_aem_KVV9C1I-YllZU_2c1d8Vlg

The Bengals front office gets alot crap and for a very good reason...too many to list because we all know them. But when I saw this quote:

"The Ravens have hired longtime NFL defensive coordinator Dean Pees as a senior advisor for their struggling defense.
Baltimore currently ranks 26th in points allowed (25.2) and 31st in pass defense (280.2).
Pees was Ravens DC from 2012-17."

MEANWHILE, we have an offense lighting it up and defense that wouldnt stop a Pee Wee football team. This front office needs to get their butts going and do their job to put these players in a position to succeed. 

To think getting back a few players is going to magically turn this defense around is ridiculous. Put some damn effort in to at least make this defense competitive. 

Kills me the Ravens are doing this and in first place and working at it while we aren't doing a thing...

MIke Hilton-knee is trending the right direction
Sheldon Rankins-expected to return to practice

DJ Ivey cleared to practice


There may be some small things that popped up after last week's game but this team is healthier than they've been all season

10 months after tearing his ACL, CB DJ Ivey has been cleared to practice.

The Bengals today cleared CB DJ Ivey PUP to return to practice. Ivey, a second-year player out of the University of Miami, was put on PUP on Aug. 27 with a knee injury. Today starts a 21-day period during which he may practice with the team without counting against the 53-player…

— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) October 9, 2024

yeah, it's Burrow's fault we are 1-4....

Adjusted EPA through Week 5

We have a new No. 1 pic.twitter.com/SuXzB6s5l3

— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) October 8, 2024

No, this isn't a thread to ***** about a dirty Ratbirds linebacker.

Back in 21, the Ravens traded for Smith and he immediately transformed the defense.  They went from lost to formidable as soon as he put on the ugly  purple jersey.  It was a case of an organization recognizing a need and doing what needed to be done when the right fit was available.

Does that player exist for the Bengals in 2024?  Would one player make a difference?  

IMO a high end DE opposite Trey or a truly great pass rushing DT would be difference makers.  I'm unsure what the secondary needs.  There aren't a lot of bright spots there.  

In a world where they actually attempt to make midseason trades, pass rush would be my preference.  If the secondary is beyond repair, at least get some pressure on opposing QBs to force some turnovers.

right now the PS is full and there is one open roster spot on the 53.

DJ Ivey is now 10 months out from his ACL...could he be ready to come off of PUP?

Micah Abraham is a rookie out of Marshall who was a final cut from Colts camp. His father is former NFL CB Donnie Abraham

We have made the following roster moves:

- Signed OT Andrew Stueber to active roster
- Signed CB Micah Abraham to the practice squad
- Placed CB Dax Hill and G/OT Jaxson Kirkland on the Reserve/Injured list.

?: https://t.co/JK1IPGKSC8 pic.twitter.com/wxErbopDtc

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) October 8, 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpRvqwopYQ4

Excerpts from his article today

Why the Bengals’ dire situation has glimmer of hope as defense seeks answers

…. A day later, the feeling hadn’t subsided from the coaching staff and players off to the worst start since 2019 and a defense that’s allowed more points per drive through five games than any Bengalsteam this decade.

They’ve allowed at least 108 yards rushing to every opponent, an average of 151 per game and a defensive rushing success percentage of 47.1, 5 percentage points worse than anyone else in football. And when they sold out to stop it Sunday, Lamar Jackson lit them up for 348 yards and four touchdowns through the air. This just two weeks after Jayden Daniels and the Commandersscored on every possession excluding kneeldowns, with him completing a rookie-record 91 percent of his passes.

Somehow, an offense that scored 33, 34 and 38 points over the last three weeks won only once.

Now the Bengals just lost their most consistent starting cornerback, Dax Hill, for the season with a torn ACL.

Only 9 percent of teams to start 1-4 over the last decade made the playoffs.

No, it’s not all that dumb to write them off. Recalibrating their situation after Sunday’s loss, the prospects are undeniably dire.

That doesn’t mean they are done.

There are too many factors keeping hope alive — none pumping more blood than Joe Burrow and the offense.

Joe Burrow through first five games
STAT 2021 2022 2023 2024
Total Yards 1293 1401 1055 1409
Cmp% 71.7% 64.9% 62.4% 72.3%
TDs 11 10 5 12
Turnovers 6 6 4 3
Sacks 14 18 11 11
Teams playing at their level right now don’t keep losing, no matter how bad the defense. They just don’t. In fact, they’ve never lost at this level in the first place.

At 2.93 points per drive, the Bengals rank second in the NFL behind only the Commanders. That ranks 19th best by any team this century through the first five games of a season.

Of the 80 best offensive starts in that span, not a single other team won only one game. Only the Bengals.

Here are the five teams that won two games or fewer while posting at least 2.5 points per drive this century.

Offenses through five games since 2000
RK YR TEAM WINS FINAL
6th 2021 team-logo-46-50x50.pngChiefs 2 12-5
19th 2024 team-logo-37-50x50.pngBengals 1 ?
28th 2005 team-logo-56-50x50.pngChargers 2 9-7
55th 2016 team-logo-50-50x50.pngSaints 2 7-9
56th 2020 team-logo-47-50x50.pngDolphins 2 10-6
59th 2020 team-logo-39-50x50.pngCowboys 2 6-10
Just five teams won only twice. Notable among the group at 2-3 despite a dominant offense were the 2021 Chiefs, whom the Bengals beat in the AFC Championship Game. Their young defense came together just enough over the second half of the season for Patrick Mahomes to pull them back to the title game. Even they managed two wins to build on.

What the Bengals just pulled off over the first five weeks of the season is essentially unprecedented in modern football.

Breaking a decades-long precedent has to contain fluky finishes. A fourth-and-16 conversion by Mahomes via a penalty in Kansas City. A bad field goal hold by Ryan Rehkow against Baltimore. Two walk-off field goal losses. Four one-possession defeats by 15 total points.

They haven’t closed out games despite countless opportunities. That’s a potentially fatal flaw, maybe even more concerning than the defense. When scoring 30-plus points every week, that really shouldn’t matter. Right now, it has them buried.