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"The Bengals Did Something Different"


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Pretty great article in the The Athletic by Ted Nguyan with a lot of video and analysis of what the Bengals did to slow down and frustrate the Ravens' offense. Came away from the article feeling much better about LouA. I am not the pasting wizard (especially when there is video ) like some are but for those of you with a subscription (and it is still on sale for $1 a month right now, so get it) it is here:

 

https://theathletic.com/2135253/2020/10/14/the-bengals-stifled-the-ravens-offense-with-something-completely-different/

 

A taste:

Quote

 

Lamar Jackson dealt with a knee injury during the week but was healthy enough to play against the Bengals in Week 5. Even if he was 100 percent, the Bengals didn’t give him any space to run by surprising the Ravens with a defense that they didn’t expect to see. The Bengals, ranked 17th in run defense DVOA (football outsider’s efficiency metric) before they played the Ravens, managed to hold the vaunted Ravens offense to only 20 points (Patrick Queen scored a defensive TD on a 53-yard fumble return), which is even more impressive considering the Bengals offense turned the ball over three times.

 

“(The Bengals) did do something completely different. They were in a true college 4-3 type of look,” head coach John Harbaugh said after the game. “They were playing quarters with the safeties low. They played it in the past but they hadn’t played it yet this year.”

 

Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo kept his base personnel on the field with three linebackers. Pass rusher Carlos Dunlap expressed frustration early in the week for being benched and having his role relegated to third-down specialist, but Anarumo needed strong run defenders who could hold their ground and two-gap against the Ravens. This week, the defensive line’s job was to force runners to bounce outside for linebackers and defensive backs to chase down.

 

 

Summed up - really good discipline and buy-in to that scheme across the board - and the LBers and DBs flowed and filled well while the d-line played their assigned gaps. The Ravens were clearly frustrated. And good on LouA for coming up with a wrinkle that the Ravens were not expecting and had really prepared for (Nguyen mentions the kinds of plays that could have worked against it were not a big part of Balt's arsenal on Sunday).  Makes me feel better about LouA going forward.

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Interesting. I don't have a huge issue with the defense. Injuries to Waynes, Atkins, Daniels, Alexander, Reader (now), Hubbard (now) combined with a ton of new faces (without a preseason) can't be helping. I like some of the new additions and hope this squad can get better. I have a hell of a lot more hope for them than I do the offensive line.

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In the article, Lou also mentioned that the players (well, except Dunlap) have been good about using different schemes every week depending on the game plan and the players accepting their roles in that plan.  We have not seen that since Zimmer left (maybe Guenther), it was always 'we need to simplify' excuse when they struggled. 

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