Bengals’ Defensive Struggles Against Bears Spark Questions About the Organization
The Cincinnati Bengals have fallen to 3–6 after a 47–42 loss to the Chicago Bears, now officially hitting rock bottom. After the Pittsburgh game, the Bengals still had playoff hopes, and matchups against the Jets and Bears were seen as must-wins. Instead, they blew a 14-point lead to the winless Jets and failed to complete a comeback against the Bears. What could have been a 5–4 team heading into the bye week is now a 3-6 team with little to no hope.
The playoffs are now an afterthought. Statistically, the Bengals’ defense has been historically bad — ranking last in the NFL in total yards (426.6), rushing yards (166.4), and points allowed (33.3) per game, and 31st in passing yards (260.1). Numbers don’t lie, and these stats show the truth to the fact that this defense has completely collapsed.
The fundamentals of football have disappeared in this defense. Tackling, pursuit angles, and communication. The simplest defensive fundamentals are being missed repeatedly. Over the last two weeks, the defense has given up 86 points and 1,086 total yards. Bengals fans believed that it wasn’t possible to be worse on the defensive side of the ball than last year, but somehow they have managed to become historically bad.
A change in the production and results out of this defense seems improbable. Allowing 86 points and 1,086 yards over two weeks is inexcusable. What makes it worse is that these breakdowns involve fundamentals every other NFL defense executes with ease. At this point, it’s hard for fans to have any faith that things will change and that adjustments will be made on the defensive side of the ball.
The Bengals invested heavily in young defensive talent, spending seven of their last eight first and second-round picks on defenders. Outside of D.J. Turner, few of those selections have made an impact. Scouting, and coaching, and even the players development are all to blame, as this much investment shouldn’t result in a historically bad defense.
The failures extend beyond the field. General Manager Duke Tobin and the Bengals’ scouting department have to be held accountable for their role in this Bengals team’s collapse. Years of poor drafting and questionable decisions have led to the position that the Bengals are in now, and frankly it doesn’t seem like the people who have made these poor decisions will ever be held accountable inside the front office as well as the coaching staff of the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Bengals’ collapse represents a larger organizational failure. How can a team with a Hall-of-Fame-caliber quarterback in Joe Burrow, elite receivers like Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, and last year’s sack leader in Trey Hendrickson potentially miss the playoffs in three consecutive years? Injuries have played a part, but the problems didn’t begin last week, and they’ve been building over the past 3 seasons.
Unless something miraculous happens, this Bengals team will miss the playoffs for a third straight year. This is unacceptable for a team with this much talent and promise. In just two seasons, Cincinnati has fallen from a Super Bowl appearance (2021) and an AFC Championship run (2022) to an underperforming and lifeless team. The Bengals haven’t just lost games, they have lost the hope and faith of fans, and their direction as a franchise has been completely derailed.
