The Difference Between Us and The Bengals...

[Velo]

Source: https://www.footballdb.com/stats/tea...NFL&sort=ptsgm

Total Yards Allowed Per Game.
Bengals 350.8 (18th)
Chargers 360.1 (23rd)

Yards Passing Allowed Per Game
Chargers 221.2 (12th)
Bengals 248.4 (26th)

Rush Yards Allowed Per Game
Bengals 102.5 (5th)
Chargers 138.9 (30th)

Points Allowed Per Game
Bengals 22.1 (17th)
Chargers 27.0 (tied for 29th)

[equivocation]

3rd down defense and turnovers?

[Velo]

3rd down defense and turnovers?

I think the biggest difference between the Chargers and Bengals was red zone defense. The defenses were pretty equal in yards allowed per game. The Bengals had a much better run defense but the Chargers had a much better pass defense. The number that stands out are the points allowed - the Bengals allowed 4.9 ewer points per game. That indicates their red zone defense was better.

[Maniaque 6]

Source: https://www.footballdb.com/stats/tea...NFL&sort=ptsgm

Total Yards Allowed Per Game.
Bengals 350.8 (18th)
Chargers 360.1 (23rd)

Yards Passing Allowed Per Game
Chargers 221.2 (12th)
Bengals 248.4 (26th)

Rush Yards Allowed Per Game
Bengals 102.5 (5th)
Chargers 138.9 (30th)

Points Allowed Per Game
Bengals 22.1 (17th)
Chargers 27.0 (tied for 29th)

The 138.9 rush yards is outrageous !

[Cdn Bolt]

The 138.9 rush yards is outrageous !

It isn't like this was an outlier either . We have been near the bottom for a # of years. They just don't seem to care about run D or are inept at fixing it.

[equivocation]

Thing is early in the year the run defense was worse but the overall defense was better.

[Velo]

The 138.9 rush yards is outrageous !

Run defense still matters in the NFL. The two teams in the Super Bowl were 5 & 6 in run defense. The 49ers were 7th and they made it to the Championship game.

[Velo]

Of the four teams in the championship games Sunday, the Chargers' pass defense (yds allowed per game) was better than the Bengals, Rams and Chiefs. The 49ers were about 15 yds per game better than the Chargers.

Run defense needs to be the No. priority. On offense and in pass defense, the Chargers were good enough to be a SB team.

[Steve]

I don't agree with this at all...some teams are finding quite a bit of help, and it is taking them deep into the playoffs.
There are more losers than winners, but you can say the same thing about the draft: the majority of draft picks (day 2-3) just don't work out.

Just replenishing your roster with draft picks that you resign is not getting any team to the Super Bowl......Pittsburgh being the poster child for that strategy.

The question is not whether a team should participate in free agency, its how aggressive should a team be?

Cincy was very aggressive this year; Tampa Bay was very aggressive last year; the Chief's had two big money free agent signing on their Super Bowl roster, and where would New England have been without the expensive addition of Stephon gilmore? Then there was Philadelphia, Denver, .......some teams are succeeding.

Again, I don't know what you mean by very aggressive. Yes, they signed 3 players. That is a pretty good haul for FA and that many in 1 year don't necessarily happen.

There are 3 UFA on the chief's starting groups. Mike Burton, who I wouldn't actually consider a starter since he hardly plays (Fullback). Hitchens signed in 2018. Mathieu signed in 2019. Mathieu has been good from the start, but Hitchens has been a marginal starter for KC, and is not playing at nearly the level he did for Dallas. I think the players you are thinking about are mostly the player's KC has traded for (Orlando Brown, Frank Clark, Charvarius Ward, Mike Hughes and Mel Ingram). They also have 2 college FA they signed (Sorensen and Pringle) and 1 street FA (Jarran Reed).

NE got 1 good player in Gilmore? Yes, he was good, but it takes more than 1 good player, and while he was a good player for several years, he was traded before the end of his contract. Again, Denver was mostly successful when they were a contender when it was "produce or you are cut at the end of the year". Since they have changed from that stance, and are now trying to build long-term, their success rate has fallen. NE is largely successful, IMHO because they can point to the same thing. If you don't produce you are gone.

And those player represent a fraction of all the FA that are signed even in a slow year. This year, there are HUGE amounts of money that teams have free to sign, so you can expect any player who is kinda sort good is going to get a HUGE contract thrown at them. Not a recipe for success overpaying average to below-average guys.

[Steve]

It isn't like this was an outlier either . We have been near the bottom for a # of years. They just don't seem to care about run D or are inept at fixing it.

the higher priority in defensive skill has to be pass defense. You are going to give up a lot more yards and points if you can't stop someone in the air. Plus, there are plenty of situations over the course of the season, where teams won't be able to run or not run enough to matter.

Part of the issue people have is that they are under the delusion that run yards are somehow more important than pass yards, and they simply aren't. Unless a field is shorter when you run the ball it can't be. It doesn't matter how you give up yards (and hence) points, it is only the total amount that really matters.

This year we werebad vs the run, and teams tried, moderately successful to play keep away. But we were close enough to win games even with that bad run D. Our whole defense was bad. The run D was worse, but that is kind of nitpicking. We sucked on D. We need to cover, stop the run, rush the QB and do all of those things better on 3rd downs. They had their moments, but most of the time they just weren't good enough.

People are so focused on the run D, and it was not good. But we could have a great run D and we would still have a not very good D. We have a lot of work to do on D.

[AL9000]

Situational awareness and game management is also a big reason for the losses. That’s on coaching which I believe will improve with more time on task and experience.

5 of the 8 losses were only by a TD or less. I think 3 of those 5 were by field goals.

[sonorajim]

LAC 30th run D
Cin 5th run D