Linebacker Logan Wilson is one of just four homegrown Cincinnati Bengals defenders who played at least 40% of the team’s defensive snaps in 2021. Cincinnati’s defense is a veteran-laden group comprised primarily of free-agent additions with years of NFL experience. In-game adjustments from defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo helped Wilson and the Bengals defense contain Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the second half of the AFC Championship Game. Can they stand tall against Matthew Stafford and the Rams in Super Bowl 56?
Logan Wilson credits Lou Anarumo for in-game adjustments
The Bengals held the Chiefs to just 3 points in the second half of the AFC Championship Game. They did the same thing against Kansas City in a critical Week 17 victory. To Wilson, Cincinnati’s dominant second-half performances against one of the league’s best offenses are the result of stability under Anarumo.
“It’s just having another year in the system, truthfully, and being able to fall back on what the basis of your defense is,” Wilson said. “Obviously, having an extra year under our belts, we already know certain coverages and certain schemes that are nice to throw in.”
In the second half of last week’s game, the Bengals dropped at least eight players into coverage on 45% of Mahomes’ dropbacks. They also began to deploy a spy — oftentimes Wilson — on the Chiefs’ signal-caller to prevent him from scrambling. Mahomes’ QBR in the first half of the Championship Game was 98.0. In the second half, it dropped to just 1.4.
“Like I’ve always said, we have complete faith in [Anarumo] that he’s going to put us in the best position to be successful,” Wilson said. “During the Chiefs game, that’s just what we had to do to prevent Mahomes from escaping and making a lot of plays outside the pocket.”
Building a better Bengals defense
The Bengals’ strategy in free agency undoubtedly changed over the past two offseasons. After years of refraining from entering the open market, Cincinnati began to open its pocketbook in 2020. That offseason, they signed defensive tackle D.J. Reader, cornerback Trae Waynes, and safety Vonn Bell. In 2021, the Bengals added cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie and Mike Hilton, defensive end Trey Hendrickson, and defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi.
“When you have a new coaching staff, people want results overnight, and that doesn’t happen,” Wilson said. “You have to get the right guys in the locker room. You have to create your culture and what you want as a coaching staff.
“That’s why, over the first two years, they’ve had to ‘weed out,’ so to say, the guys that might not have fit their culture and what they were trying to do. They had to identify guys through the draft and free agency the past couple of years that they brought in, and everyone has meshed in the locker room.”
Indeed, the Bengals’ defensive depth chart from just two seasons ago is nearly unrecognizable. Gone are long-tenured players such as Carlos Dunlap, Geno Atkins, William Jackson III, and Dre Kirkpatrick. Instead, Cincinnati’s defense is now performing better than the sum of its parts.
Coming together as a unit
Wilson, fellow linebacker Germaine Pratt, defensive end Sam Hubbard, and safety Jessie Bates are the only starting Bengals defenders who were originally drafted by the team. But the unit was able to come together, even during 2020’s COVID-shortened and distanced offseason. This year, Cincinnati’s defense has figured out how to work together.
“It’s just a culmination of when guys came back for OTAs and bought in. A lot of teams didn’t have 100% of their guys show up, but we did. I think that spoke to the character of the guys in the locker room.
“After last season, we wanted to be better, and we knew we could be better, especially with the guys we brought in in the draft and free agency … It carried over into camp. The more that we were playing with each other, we understand how each guy likes to play.”