You people need to trust Lou

[WeezyBengal]

(05-05-2022, 02:55 PM)KillerGoose Wrote: One question I have is whether or not Cincinnati's defense will be able to maintain the improvement in turnovers they saw during the postseason. On a play by play basis, the defense was the exact same defense they were in the regular season. However, they forced a significant amount of turnovers.

• The Bengals defense allowed 5.5 yards per play in the playoffs and regular season.
• The defensive EPA per play was -0.01 in the regular season compared to -0.03 in the postseason. 
• The defense averaged a sack every 25 plays in both the regular season and postseason.
• The turnover rate in the regular season was a turnover every 51 plays compared to a turnover every 28 plays in the postseason. 
  

That is the only major difference between the two, and it is a powerful one. I am hoping with an extra year of experience and some of the additional youth in the secondary, we can see more turnovers this season. Otherwise, Cincinnati may be looking at another middle of the road defense. 

I think the turnover story with the Bengals is what ultimately defined their season. It's SUPER interesting. 

They were +-0 when it comes to plus/minus on the season. You could say the season shifted when Joe stopped throwing so many INTs. 
He only threw 3 picks during the last 7 games of the season after throwing 11 during the first 9. 

After the God awful first Cleveland game and when Joe acknowledged he needed to stop forcing things (week 9), they ended up +4 in the remaining games. The defense turned the other team over 12 times in the last 8 games of the season.

Then the defense went on a run where they turned the other team over during the playoffs at a clip of 9 turnovers in 4 games. 

No way the turnover rate in the playoffs is sustainable, but I would imagine something like what they did in the remaining 7 games could be sustainable for this defense. To me its not so much about the number of turnovers the defense gets, but its that coupled with the offense (Joe) taking care of the ball.