Hilton injured his knee in the Week 4 win at Carolina and finished the game on it but was sidelined last week and inactive for the overtime loss to Baltimore. He resumed full participation in practice Wednesday and said he will be “ready to go” Sunday when the Bengals (1-4) play the New York Giants (2-3) on the road.
Cincinnati wasn’t able to stop Lamar Jackson last week despite upping the pressure on him, but Hilton believes that could work against other offenses, especially as the Bengals haven’t been effective enough simply with a four-man rush. The Bengals had several plays where it looked like they had Jackson wrapped up or throwing the ball away and he ended up finding a way to make the play, but Jackson is more elusive than most.
“It could be a tone setter for us,” Hilton said. “Obviously starting out early, getting the quarterback frustrated and flustered. You know, obviously Lamar (Jackson) played great. That’s just one of one of those guys, but we feel like the gameplan was good. You know, it definitely gave us a lot of confidence that we could carry into Sunday night.”
Anarumo has been looking for ways to improve the pass rush. Getting his defensive line healthy is one way that could happen, but until the front end finds a rhythm, manufacturing pressure through blitzing might be the best bet. The Bengals could have the personnel to make that more successful this week with Hilton returning.
Zac Taylor speaks to the media heading into the first practice of Week 6. https://t.co/ya7NjKF853
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) October 9, 2024
The Bengals’ defensive line also has a chance to be at full strength for the first time this season Sunday. Defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins was back in practice Wednesday after missing the past three weeks because of a hamstring injury suffered in the Sept. 15 loss at Kansas City.
Cincinnati received a boost up front last week when defensive tackle B.J. Hill returned from the hamstring injury that caused him to miss two games. Defensive end Myles Murphy and defensive tackle McKinnley Jackson also made their season debuts after opening the season on the injured reserve list.
“We had 41 snaps (Sunday), out of the 78 I think, where we blitzed, which is more than probably any game that since I’ve been here, and there was a lot of zero blitzes, and so we’ve got to continue to find ways to generate it (the pass rush),” Anarumo said.
“ ... I thought BJ’s presence was felt out there in a number of situations. So hopefully Sheldon (Rankins) is trending in the right direction (for Sunday night), so there’s another rusher. So we’ve just got to find different ways to do it, because we have to do better in that area.”
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has completed 67.7 percent of his passes when blitzed and his passer rating is highest in those situations, but according to ProFootballFocus.com, his offensive grade of 62.6 on plays when blitzed is six points lower than his overall grade. He’s thrown four of his touchdowns on those plays and no interceptions, but he’s had three throw-aways and three sacks.
Jones has been sacked 12 times this season, tied for 13th most. The Bengals rank 30th with just 6.0 sacks, and that is one major issue for a defense that allows the second-most points per game (29.0).
“We just have to be better on our end as a whole,” Hilton said. “Obviously, we’re not getting enough pressure on the quarterback. We’re not making plays when the football is in there, and it’s causing us to give up a lot of points and explosives. So, we got to find ways to do that and get our offense on the field.”
Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt said the injuries on the defensive line have impacted the entire defense, so getting back to full strength could be a big lift.
“You look at the front,” Pratt said. “They weren’t healthy the beginning of the season, and they haven’t played together so much. That’s like the offensive line, you don’t get the plays beside the person so much, you’ve got to get better because defense starts with the front. Once they get their rhythm and we get Rankins back this week hopefully, that’s a good start.
“Defense starts up front, so if you don’t have a front that’s clicking, it’s hard to get things going, but we get the guys back healthy, so we better play better football.”
SUNDAY’S GAME
Bengals at Giants, 8:20 p.m., NBC, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
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