All in all, 2024 was a fairly weird season in the Queen City.
And yet overall it was also fairly predictable, especially as the NFL goes.
How is that?
In August I was bearish on the Bengals defense because I wasn’t really sold on the coach or the personnel, but I was open to the idea the offense could still carry them pretty far — maybe even all the way to the Super Bowl — plus maybe the defensive personnel would mature.
A very weak schedule figured to give them some time to figure things out along the way, so maybe they would be on track for bigger and better things by the end of the season when it really mattered.
That is pretty much what happened, but they lost too many games before figuring it out.
When all was said and done, the offense was even better than expected, but the defense was even worse.
1. With that in mind, I very much endorse trying something new on defense next year.
Lou Anarumo did some good things as Bengals defensive coordinator — most notably stymying Patrick Mahomes in the second half of the 2021 AFC Championship Game to help Cincinnati make the Super Bowl.
But four of his six defenses finished in the bottom third of the NFL in scoring, a fact that is even more problematic for a guy who said repeatedly he cared only about giving up points, not yards.
Maybe they have just not drafted any decent players in three years, but I tend to doubt it was that bad. Responsibility falls on the staff to develop players, and the coordinator’s job is to utilize what he has even if it isn’t exactly what his blueprints call for. (The coaching staff also has a say in who gets drafted.)
If Anarumo didn’t have the perfect personnel, he seemed pretty lost.
Looking back, the Bengals defense was awful with leftovers from the Marvin Lewis era, still bad when starting to change over the roster in year two then found something in years three and four. Since then, the bottom dropped out again.
Yes, the memories of four years ago this month are nice, but that’s a pretty small part of the overall sample size at this point.
The path to success ultimately was pretty narrow for Anarumo’s defenses: They succeeded when they were able to play coverage and rush the passer but struggled in any other phase. That’s no way to run a railroad.
2. The offensive line is another matter.
While Anarumo had no previous track record of being a full-time defensive coordinator before coming to the Bengals, Frank Pollack has been regarded as one of the best for many years.
The line is much better than it was in 2021, but maybe it was time to try something else. That is an area drafting has been more of a problem, but Amarius Mims showed promised this year while Cordell Volson appeared to regress.
3. Speaking of the draft, that is another difference between the offensive line situation and the defense.
Pollack could have used another piece or two to develop (before drafting Mims in the first round last spring), the Bengals committed a lot of draft capital to the defense and got very poor returns so far.
For that reason, maybe the new guy could hit the ground running if he can coax better play from the youngsters in the secondary and revamp the run defense.
4. I still think the way they go about things on offense raises the degree of difficulty, but Burrow is simply good enough (with his skill players) to make it work.
Seeing the running game get going (and them actually have a coherent plan for it) late in the season was of course encouraging, but it remains curious how every season they need half the year to become even competent in that area.
Maybe the offensive line coach plays a big role here.
I guess that is another thing we will find out.
5. And if they miss the playoffs again next year?
Well, I think we all know who is on the clock.
Taylor has Burrow and ownership in his corner for now, but even he admitted the slow starts are a problem that must be addressed.
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