Have to fix 3rd down defense

[Daddy-O]

(09-17-2018, 11:36 AM)fredtoast Wrote: After 2 weeks our defense ranks 26th in yards allowed and 30th in first downs.  Even with multiple teams playing overtime games the Bengals defense is still dead last in plays ran by the opponent.

It all boils down to 3rd down conversions.  Overall our defense ranks 7th in yards per play allowed. (9th passing, 2nd rushing)  But we are dead last in the league in 3rd down conversion percentage.  We are the only team in the league allowed over fifty percent  (54%).

Our offense is 11th in yards per play, but only 6 teams have fewer offensive snaps than we do.

Got to work on our 3rd down defense.

I too have been concerned the first couple of weeks with the amount of yards given up.  Generally with the Bengals it's the run defense that seems to struggle early and I have to admit Marv and staff traditionally get that in order as the year progresses... run fits and such.

This year it seems it's the intermediate pass defense - and that's been a thorn in the past as well, especially with TE's.  Probably a couple of reasons for that:  1) The Colts and Ravens game plans didn't focus as much on the running game and, 2) Our LB play has been the place to exploit (at least when looking on paper with us having younger players and Burfict out).

I think we'll get better when Burfict returns and Brown comes back from his injury.

I like the potential of this years team but there are some very good offensive teams in the AFC... Chiefs, Steelers, SD, NE, even Jax has come on.  To complete we'll need our defense to be in the 10-15 range minimum and turn the ball over.  Our offense appears to be able to score points but it won't matter if we continue to let teams convert on 3rd down, sustaining drives and eating up time of possession.