How the Bengals’ new defense is ready to stop Titans running from Derrick Henry – Cincinnati Bengals blog

CINCINNATI — Among the many aspects that have made the city unique, Cincinnati BengalsOne team stood out as the NFL’s worst in 2019.

The rush defense.

Cincinnati allowed more rushing yards per game than any other NFL team, despite only two wins in league. The Bengals revamped their defense and shifted their focus to stopping the run.

Two years later, that overhaul’s biggest test will come on Saturday, in the AFC divisional playoff game against the Tennessee TitansCincinnati will be facing a tough task in defending the NFL’s two-time rushing champ, and Cincinnati will have to do it. Derrick Henry.

The Bengals are available.

“It might seem like a passing league, but it’s still a run-first league,” Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton said. “Everybody wants to get their offense going by running the football. We know as a defense, that sets the tone.”

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, the Titans led the NFL in rushing attempts (551) and designed run plays (46.1%). Henry is expected to play his first game since suffering a foot injury in Week 8. He averaged 117.1 yards per game before being injured. This was the highest average in all of the league.

Cincinnati’s preparation this week accounted for Henry playing, with emphasis placed on what it will take to get the 6-3, 247-pound running back on the ground.

“You’ve got to want to tackle him just as much as he wants to run it,” said Bengals defensive tackle D.J. Reader. “He wants to get in that end zone, so you’ve really got to want to tackle him.”

Reader’s arrival marked a change of course in Cincinnati’s rebuild as a franchise, not just on defense. Before Reader signed a five-year deal worth $53million, the Bengals hadn’t given that much money out to an external free agent. Cincinnati gave Reader the money that is usually reserved for pass-rushers.

“We feel like he really fits our system in what we wanted to do,” Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said in 2020. “So specifically to the Cincinnati Bengals he had high value because of that. We were very excited to get him.”

When defensive end was completed, it was important to stop the run. Sam HubbardSigned a four year, $40 million extension last Summer

“I think you earn the right to rush the passer,” Hubbard said in July. “If you don’t stop the run, they’re never going to be able to sit back and throw the ball. It all starts with that.”

Cincinnati allowed 4.7 yards per rush attempt in 2019, which resulted in the defense facing the second-fewest pass attempts and the most rush attempts that season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Cincinnati was 13th among the NFL’s most yards allowed per carry at 4.28 and defensed the fifth-fewest rush attempts at 407 in 2021.

Safety Jessie Bates III — who, along with Hubbard, is one of two holdovers from 2019’s Week 1 starting defense — attributed the improved rush defense to the new faces inside Cincinnati’s locker room.

Cincinnati also signed, in addition to Reader. Vonn BellTo be an in the box safety, drafted Logan WilsonTo be a middle linebacker in the starting lineup and to trade for tackle to increase quality depth on defense line B.J. Hill.

“Look at the roster and you can see we brought in guys in here for that reason and it’s not just the starters,” Bates said last week. “There are backup guys that have roles on this team and they embrace it.”

Hill and other defensive tackles provide depth Josh TupouHenry and the top-seeded Titans will be crucial. Cincinnati lost a crucial piece of its defensive line in the tackle Larry OgunjobiAfter sustaining a right foot injury, he was placed on injured reserve Las Vegas RaidersLast week.

Stopping Henry and the Titans’ rushing attack will go a long way toward propelling Cincinnati to its first AFC Championship Game appearance since 1988.

The Bengals are excited to be able to tackle this task, even though it is something few teams have ever done well. It is a task they were designed for.

“It’s a challenge we’re gonna go out there and accept,” Reader said. “And we’re going to go out there and do our thing.”