The Bengals walked out of Miami with a 31-24 win, but the tape still handed them a blunt message heading into the bye: the run defense is a real problem.
Cincinnati is one of those teams sitting there with a record that could look a whole lot better if a few ugly moments had broken differently. Two disastrous special teams plays in Week 3 and Joe Burrow’s red zone interception in Week 4 are the kind of swings that can flip a season. Even after the win over the Dolphins, the Bengals still don’t look like a polished Super Bowl contender.
And the biggest issue is hard to miss.
The Bengals entered Week 6 allowing 4.5 yards per carry, and Sunday’s trip to Miami only made that number uglier. The Dolphins piled up 217 rushing yards on 34 carries. Even if you strip out Malik Washington’s 18-yard run on a toss-crack play, Chris Bell’s 26-yard end-around, and Malik Willis’ 39-yard scramble, Ollie Gordon II still managed 88 yards on 18 carries.
Gordon finished at 4.9 yards per attempt. Miami as a team averaged 6.4.
That came against a Bengals defense that did get some help from a few factors. Samaje Perine gave Cincinnati enough on the ground with hard running between the tackles. All-Pro linebacker Jordyn Brooks also spent time fighting through a foot injury that briefly took him out of the game.
Still, the bigger picture remains ugly. Even with those caveats, the Bengals were gashed repeatedly, and the explosive runs were the real backbreaker. Cincinnati is now allowing five yards per carry on the season.
The numbers behind the problem are hard to ignore. As one post noted, the Bengals’ defense still leads the league in Stuffed Run percentage at 30%, with the next-best team, the Falcons, at 26.1%. Another post pointed out that Cincinnati has given up the most explosive runs of 12 yards or more in the NFL this season, with 16 such plays for 319 yards.
That’s the definition of feast or famine. The Bengals can blow up a run early and set the tone on one snap, then lose control at the second level on the next. When Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen, or Boye Mafe aren’t creating immediate disruption, the rest of the defense hasn’t been consistent enough to clean things up.
Miami’s quarterback situation only made the run defense look worse. Willis was rough throwing the ball and handed Jordan Battle two interceptions, yet the Bengals still couldn’t keep the Dolphins from finding lanes on the ground. Cincinnati could have forced more obvious passing situations by getting sharper run stops, but that never really settled in.
There’s also a roster issue lurking behind the headline numbers. Outside of Mafe, the defensive end group looks shaky, and the depth behind Lawrence and Allen at defensive tackle leaves something to be desired.
That’s the assignment during the bye: figure out why the run defense keeps giving away chunk gains, because the Bengals can’t keep leaning on a few splash plays to cover for it.
In Other News...
Joe Burrow Made Clear Why This Bengals Win Still Feels Off
Joe Burrow didnt let the Bengals 31-24 win over the Dolphins pass as anything close to a finished product. Even with the result in hand, he framed it as a game that left too much on the table, with Cincinnati aware that a victory can still come with plenty of correction baked in. The timing matters, too, with the bye week offering a brief pause before the AFC North grind tightens up again.
Burrow also highlighted what Cincinnati got from its playmakers, especially JaMarr Chase, who kept pushing through injuries and still came up with a long touchdown grab. Still, the bigger picture around the Bengals is less about one encouraging afternoon than about how cleanly they can play once the next stretch starts, with Baltimore waiting after the break and very little margin for the kind of mistakes that lingered here. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Get Their Reset But One Problem Still Looms Before Baltimore
Cincinnati heads into its bye week with a 3-2 record after hanging on for a 31-24 win over Miami in conditions that tested just about everything a team can bring to South Florida. Joe Burrow delivered four touchdown passes and the offense found enough rhythm to outlast the Dolphins, even if Zac Taylor had plenty to point to afterward as areas that still need cleaning up before the second half of the season really takes shape.
The trip came with the kind of grind that can linger well beyond one Sunday, and Taylor made clear the Bengals felt it after the game. Penalties and other mistakes still popped up in a win that otherwise gave Cincinnati a much-needed reset, but the larger concern now is how refreshed and sharp they can look coming out of the break with Baltimore waiting next on the schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Standouts In Win Could Complicate Their Lineup Decisions
Pro Football Focus latest grades from Cincinnatis 31-24 win over the Dolphins offered a reminder that the box score can only tell part of the story. Even in a victory, the Bengals came away with one of their lower team marks of the season, but there were still plenty of bright spots tucked inside the grading sheet, including strong showings from players who made the most of limited opportunities.
Tanner Hudson stood out on the offensive side, while the defense was paced by a top effort from Boye Mafe. The bigger takeaway for the Bengals may be what those performances mean when the staff starts sorting through snap counts and roles, especially with Chase Brown and Samaje Perine working so closely side by side. When multiple reserves and rotational pieces grade well in the same game, the next lineup call gets a little harder. [Read more 🡒]