Upon Further Review: Bengals Have Flipped The Script With Upgraded Defense

All the Cincinnati Bengals needed was an average defense to become the team to beat in the AFC North. The Bengals’ loaded offense hasn’t been an issue, as long as quarterback Joe Burrow is healthy. After two weeks, that is the case this season. Defensive coordinator Al Golden has his unit playing stellar football, forcing four turnovers in a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before holding the Houston Texans to just six points in Week 2. Cincinnati is 2-0 and sits pretty atop the AFC North, a position it might just keep the entire season. The Ravens and Steelers lost this past Sunday. The first key matchup comes in Week 7, when the Bengals travel to Baltimore. It has only been two games, yes, but the most impressive turnaround in the NFL has to be Cincinnati’s defense, which was one of the NFL’s absolute worst last season and has been a huge part of the Bengals. “They’re all talented, they’re all accomplished, but they’re great human beings and they’re leaders,” Golden told me over the phone on Monday about the influx of talent the Bengals’ defense took in during the offseason. “They bring great energy and passion into the building every day, and they’re fun to work with. They make it fun to come to work every day and each of them is making a difference for us.” The headline acquisition: defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, acquired from the New York Giants for the No. 10 overall pick in this year’s draft. The 28-year-old veteran was tasked with taking the league’s worst run defense and changing its identity. So far, he has done that. Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving was held to 45 rushing yards in Week 1, and then David Montgomery had just 10 for the Texans this past week. You can point to the fact that Lawrence only has three tackles, one for a loss, with no sacks so far this season, but he’s tied for third in pressures among defensive tackles (eight, per Pro Football Focus). Golden said Lawrence has been a game-changer for the Bengals. “He’s been impactful,” Golden said. “I know there’s some discourse out there about what the stat line looks like as it relates to him, but in terms of impacting the game in the middle of the defense, pushing the pocket inside for us, it’s been dramatic. It’s been the big difference. The greatest compliment he can get is how much better he makes everyone around him.” Defense had held Cincinnati back in recent years, understandably seen as a major reason Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase missed the playoffs three years in a row after making the Super Bowl in 2021 and the AFC Championship Game in 2022. Lawrence was added, as was defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, edge Boye Mafe and safety Bryan Cook. Those veterans were brought in to complement second-year linebackers Demetrius Knight and Barret Carter. The Bengals prioritized high-leverage areas of the field and now rank in the top 10 in scoring defense and are a top-five unit in the red zone. “You spent 80% of your time on the 20% that can make the biggest difference,” Golden said. “You’re talking about turnover margin, one of the biggest factors in playing good defense, winning third down, critically important and being a really good red-zone defense. It’s about scoring defense. We’ve put an emphasis on it, and when Dex and Jonathan Allen are the first two out there for ball disruption drills in 95-degree heat, that says all you need to know.” The Bengals are poised to potentially build upon their two wins to start the season. Two of their next three games are against teams with bottom-five offenses this season. First, it’s a trip to Pittsburgh, then a home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars before heading to Miami to face the Dolphins on the road in Week 5. That trip to face the Steelers will be a good chance to show just how far the Bengals — and their defense — have come, having lost 34-12 in Pittsburgh last season. Did you have Bryce Young second in the NFL in passing yards (648) and tied for the league lead with six touchdown passes? It’s the best consecutive-game total of his four-year career in both categories, and if his Week 1 success was obscured by his team giving up 59 points to the Chicago Bears, there was no such problem in a 34-3 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Veteran tight end Darren Waller, who caught two touchdowns from Young on Sunday, isn’t surprised at all. “It’s just an extension of what I’ve seen from him since the moment I got here,” Waller told me over the phone. “Being super-intentional with everything he’s doing at practice and making a lot of great plays.” In one game, Waller had as many touchdowns as any Panthers tight end has had in either of the last two full seasons. After a year of retirement, the now 34-year-old returned to the NFL last year with six touchdown catches in Miami. And Waller’s return to play this season was pretty last-minute, too. He signed with the Panthers two weeks into training camp, joining a team looking to repeat as NFC South champions. Waller remembers the day Carolina offered him a contract in August — it was the nine-year anniversary of his sobriety — and is eager to see how the Panthers can sustain their early success. “It’s been really fun these first two games, being so productive but also having a lot of ways we can get better as well,” he said. Much of Sunday’s headlines from the Cleveland Browns’ surprising upset of the Bucs centered on quarterback Deshaun Watson rallying Cleveland to 17 points in the second half for a 23-19 rain-delayed win. But as Cleveland’s defensive front seeks a new identity without Myles Garrett, one emerging player to watch is second-year pro Mason Graham, the fifth overall pick in the 2025 draft. Graham had a half-sack as a rookie, but he’s had a sack in each of his first two games this season, joining end Jared Verse as the pieces the Browns will build around up front. “I think players that are as diligent as Mason is, and love football, [are] going to continue to get better,” coach Todd Monken said. “He’s still a young player, and you can see that with our interior guys. When they slide away from you and you get one-on-one, it’s the ultimate sign of disrespect. I mean, you’ve got to win your one-on-one matchups. We’re built for our explosive interior players to be able to win those matchups. And we won more of them than we did the week before.” All of the 49ers’ top five players in receptions after two games are age 30 and older, which sets up a battle against injury all season long, but gives quarterback Brock Purdy an extremely reliable and sure-handed group of targets in the passing game. Purdy never completed 70% of his passes in any of his first four seasons in San Francisco. Still, with more high-percentage passes to running back Christian McCaffrey and tight end George Kittle, he’s completing a league-best 80.4% of his throws this season. Literally no player in the 49ers’ offense has a catch rate lower than 67%. Keep receivers Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel healthy, which is no easy task, and Purdy could challenge the NFL season record for completion percentage, set by Drew Brees in 2018 at 74.4%.