I've seen some state the Bengals have an elite D. Do people actually believe that? Just curious about everyone's thoughts

10th PPG
21st YPG
18th rush YPG
22nd pass YPG
T-14th INT
T-8th FF
T-16th PD
T-6th sacks
19th passer rating
29th yards per carry
T-11th 3rd down %
26th yards per play
T-26th penalties

The eye test says they aren't horrible, but those numbers don't say "elite" to me.

No. They are not elite. They rank in the 20's in ypg. Elite to me is like top 5.

(10-14-2015, 11:30 AM)NashBengal Wrote: I've seen some state the Bengals have an elite D. Do people actually believe that? Just curious about everyone's thoughts

No, but they are serviceable. They could take the next step towards elite if Burfict comes back playing like he was pre injury. We will see.

Elite? No.
Better than the stats? Yes.

Look at the situations teams have been in.

Oakland...way behind. Lots of garbage yards.
San Diego...behind. A drive or two of garbage yards.
Kansas City...way behind. Lots of garbage yards.

It's really hard to gauge. Sunday could be more of the same. Look what Buffalo did to New England. New England is in a similar boat...playing teams who have been behind and they have really limited points, but given up yards.

I think there's an element of the defense that is being protected by the situations the offense has put them in. However, what tells me the defense is a bit underrated is how they turned the game around against Seattle. An average or worse defense would not have held the Seahawks and given the team a chance to win.

I would not consider them to be elite. I look at them as sort of a "bend, but don't break" unit. They seem to give up yards and plays, but have the ability to stiffen up when needed.

If Burfict is able to come back healthy, then they move much closer towards elite status.

lol who said bengals D was elite this season? Sources? Also what drug were they on?

(10-14-2015, 11:39 AM)Goalpost Wrote: No. They are not elite. They rank in the 20's in ypg. Elite to me is like top 5.

as long as they are close to top in PPG yards i could care less about. (although i know its how they are ranked)

They are not Elite but they seem to be getting better minus a few blown plays. More turnovers would definately help point them towards elite.

(10-14-2015, 12:44 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: as long as they are close to top in PPG yards i could care less about.  (although i know its how they are ranked)

They are not Elite but they seem to be getting better minus a few blown plays.    More turnovers would definately help point them towards elite.

Missed tackles are the killer for us this year. They've led to more big plays than blown coverage from what I can remember.

They're getting Dennard some reps but he's gotten burned quite a few times, and that's not good for a guy only seeing 20% of the snaps. Hopefully we can get healthy at the top of the depth chart and not have to worry about seeing him much when the games are close.

I agree with the masses. They are not elite by any means. Missed tackles, run game and vulnerability in the middle needs addressed before they can be an elite defense. Good thing is they know it and can work on it. Burfict will be a huge plus when he returns. The 4th-qtr defense against Seattle was elite. Somehow they pulled it all together and played with grit and made things happen. They have it in them but need to play with the same intensity all the time, despite what the score may be.

The D-line is elite. The secondary has been a little shaky a times but I'm not too worried about them. The LB play isn't great by any means. Need Burfict back badly, also wouldn't mind seeing Dawson get a few more snaps.

Not playing at an elite level yet.

Hopefully they turn it around with Burfict's return.

But they did not get any help at all in this years draft either.

Think they can become good enough though.

D-line is playing tremendous. Even Peko has played better than most expected.

Linebackers have been a liability at times. Especially with missed tackles.

Secondary has a ton of talent, but also inconsistent outside of Iloka and Adam Jones. There's been miscommunication and players have been getting beat deep.

It's a bend but don't break defense. That defensive line has proven they can disrupt quarterbacks. If the rest of the defense can elevate their game, then this is certainly a top 10 unit. But by no means do I view it as elite.

(10-14-2015, 01:41 PM)Paul from Dayton Wrote: The D-line is elite. The secondary has been a little shaky a times but I'm not too worried about them. The LB play isn't great by any means. Need Burfict back badly, also wouldn't mind seeing Dawson get a few more snaps.

This.

And I'd like to see Dawson get more snaps too.   They say he's not disciplined and has problems shedding.

I say he can't be worse than Lamur and he will play better than he practices.  He needs reps.

The defense is better than they have played. Guenther is playing to soft for my liking in the back end.

Not elite but pretty good. Pretty good defense paired with the Bengals offense makes lots of wins!

(10-14-2015, 12:41 PM)Element Wrote: lol who said bengals D was elite this season? Sources? Also what drug were they on?

I heard Mike Golic say it just this morning.

(10-14-2015, 03:46 PM)jason Wrote: I heard Mike Golic say it just this morning.

So sad how head injuries cause problems for these guys later in life.

(10-14-2015, 04:02 PM)Utts Wrote: So sad how head injuries cause problems for these guys later in life.

Ha...  I think he's just lazy, and remembers hearing they were great a couple of years back.  I remember in 09 they were talking about how explosive our offense is.  They were lacking that year...

I think our D line is as close to an elite group as we have on defense. I'm hoping that Burfict can pick up where is left off. Hopefully he has been keeping up with his conditioning. The rest of our D I would say is average.