What Makes the Bengals Defense So Difficult to Handle?

The Bengals defense doesn’t necessarily jump out to most people as one of the more elite units in the NFL. You can just look at their numbers from the last two seasons and see that they don’t overwhelm opponents by getting to the quarterback, creating turnovers, or even preventing them from moving the ball:

And yet they do manage to befuddle opponents and shut them down for large stretches of games pretty consistently.

So how do they do it? They keep teams guessing, sometimes winning with coverage, sometimes winning with pressure.

Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo loves to use timely disguise and post-snap movement to slow down the quarterback’s processing. He’ll use unique opponent-specific gameplans that alter from week to week. And he has the ability to effectively change his approach in-game.

Below, I’ll break down how Anarumo’s schemes have provided issues for some of the best quarterbacks in the league, including Josh Allen and the three quarterbacks who’ve combined to win the last 5 Super Bowls.

Making Josh Allen Uncomfortable

This first example comes from Cincinnati’s AFC Divisional Round win against the Bills last season. Disguised coverages like this one had Josh Allen looking uncomfortable all afternoon.