Cincinnati Bengals
Defense quietly dominates again
By Scott Priestle, CNATI.com Posted November 15, 2009 6:22 PM ET
PITTSBURGH -- When the clock struck zero Sunday, a handful of Bengals defensive players quickly and quietly ran to the locker room. No small talk, no celebrations.
Some needed attention from the trainers. More than anything, though, they were content to let their play during the game stand as their statement.
Leon Hall
"That's my style," cornerback Leon Hall said following an 18-12 win over the rival Steelers, a game that earned the Bengals a one-game lead in the AFC North and stamped their defense as an emerging force.
Hall and Co. limited the Steelers to 226 total yards. It was the third straight game and fourth time in the past five games the Bengals held an opponent to fewer than 300 yards.
Backup linebacker Brandon Johnson said the win was so sweet that "I'm almost diabetic right now," but for the most part players treated it as business-as-usual. Their expectations have risen dramatically in the 22 months since Mike Zimmer was hired as defensive coordinator.
"You don't hear hooting and hollering, do you?" linebacker Dhani Jones said. "We're pretty grounded."
They are pretty good, too. One week after blanketing Baltimore's receivers, the Bengals trapped Ben Roethlisberger, shadowed his receivers and stuffed his running back.
Rashard Mendenhall, who ran for 155 yards the previous week, managed only 36 yards Sunday. Roethlisberger was sacked four times and completed only 20 of 40 passes. Bengals players batted away 10 passes.
"Within our defensive room, we feel we can be one of the top defenses, not just in the division but in the entire NFL," Hall said. "If we do what we're supposed to do, we have the players to be as good as we want to be. It's a good feeling to see the hard work we put in paying off."
The plan Sunday was to keep Roethlisberger in the pocket, because he is particularly dangerous when plays break down and he is able to run. So the outside rushers were asked to pressure Roethlisberger without allowing a lane to open, and every pass-rusher was encouraged to put his hands up and contest the pass. Defensive line coach Jay Hayes describes it as forcing the quarterback to throw as if he is stuck in the bottom of a well.
Brandon Johnson
Backup linebacker Brandon Johnson deflected two passes at the line of scrimmage, defensive end Jonathan Fanene knocked down another and blitzing safety Chinedum Ndukwe got one.
"When you do that, it really makes it easier for us," defensive tackle Domata Peko said, "because when (Roethlisberger) scrambles, he's really hard to bring down. He's a slippery guy."
The Steelers had scored at least 27 points in each of the previous five games, and they won all five. They could not finish drives against the Bengals, though.
In the teams' first meeting, the Steelers had drives stall at the Cincinnati 1- and 6-yard lines. They settled for field goals each time, and it cost them when the Bengals drove to two late touchdowns and a 23-20 win. In the rematch Sunday, the Steelers moved inside the Cincinnati 20-yard line four times but managed only four field goals.
"We're playing great scoring-zone defense, and that's huge in the NFL," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said.
Roethlisberger was sacked twice on goal-to-go situations and threw three incomplete passes, and Mendenhall was stuffed for a three-yard loss on his only carry. The Steelers also had a holding penalty deep in Bengals territory that short-circuited a drive.
"We didn't find any comfort today," tackle Max Starks said. "We were just kind of picking and choosing and were never really cohesive at all today. We were kind of guessing, and we were a little timid out there. We didn't really go into attack mode at any point, I don't think."
Categories: Cincinnati Bengals, News
Tags: Bengals, defense, Leon Hall, Mike Zimmer, Steelers
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