Key 1: Drag them into the deep, dark abyss<\/p>\n
When the Bengals rehired Al Golden, this time as their defensive coordinator, they made it a point to improve their run defense to accommodate his scheme. They signed former Packer starting nose tackle T.J. Slaton (6-foot-5, 330 pounds) and reserve nose tackle Mike Pennel (6-foot-4, 332) to pair with B.J. Hill (6-foot-311), and former Michigan Wolverine Kris Jenkins (6-foot-3, 311).<\/p>\n
With a lot of bigger bodies in the trenches, the Bengals have leaned on a rotation to keep them fresh. Starters Slaton and Hill see around 50-60% of snaps, while Pennel and Jenkins put in 40-50%, with the nose tackles seeing a slightly lower percentage. After a stellar opening week, things looked promising, but since the Burrow injury, the offense has struggled to stay on the field, and opponents have used the run to wear down the Bengals\u2019 defensive line.<\/p>\n
Outside of the Bengals\u2019 performance against a Quinshon Judkins-less Browns, Cincinnati has given up nearly 500 yards on the ground on 96 carries over three games; allowing almost 165 yards per game and 5.15 yards per carry.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Lions offense is capable of matching those numbers. Over the last three games, the Lions have run for 510 yards on 97 carries; an average of 170 per game and 5.25 yards per carry.<\/p>\n
The game plan here should call for the Lions running Jahmyr Gibbs early, leaning on his speed to force the Bengals\u2019 big bodies into chase mode. Then, as the Bengals\u2019 interior wears down, hit them with a heavy dose of power from the hometown kid, David Montgomery<\/a>.<\/p>\n One defensive adjustment the Bengals have made since Burrow went down is to try and be more aggressive in pressuring the opposing quarterback. The problem is, it\u2019s hard to make sweeping changes on the fly, and the on-field results show it\u2019s not working.<\/p>\n Currently, they are blitzing at the lowest rate in the NFL (12.7%); they\u2019re a bottom-10 team in quarterback pressures (45, 23rd), QB pressure rate (27.3%, 28th), sacks (6, 24th), and sack rate (3.6%, 27th). Last week against the Broncos, they produced just seven pressures and recorded zero sacks. Individually, they have only two defensive linemen with a double-digit pass rush win rate: Trey Hendrickson (20.8%, 18th) and rookie Shemar Stewart (14.6%, 45th). However, Stewart is currently injured and not practicing.<\/p>\n And just like with the run game, the Lions offense is on the opposite end of the spectrum. The Lions have not allowed a sack in three games, have allowed only four sacks on the season (3rd), and have ceded just 42 pressures (6th). Hendrickson spends the majority of his time at right defensive end, meaning he\u2019ll draw Lions left tackle Taylor Decker, who has only allowed one sack on the season.<\/p>\n The Lions will have a real shot to keep Jared Goff\u2019s jersey clean again this week, and if that happens, he\u2019ll have plenty of time to cook. Currently, Goff has a passer rating of 113.0 (second), a completion percentage of 73.8% (second), a completion percentage above expectation of +8.3% (second), and an EPA per dropback of 0.24 (third).<\/p>\n \u201cThe accuracy that he\u2019s had, handling checks at the line. All that, just everything, he\u2019s just so much better at,\u201d Lions offensive coordinator John Morton said of Goff. \u201cAnd he\u2019s played a while, so he\u2019s comfortable in this offense and where we\u2019re at. And that\u2019s good for a quarterback because you want him to go out there and not think about a lot of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Overall, the Lions are averaging 226 passing yards per game (sixth), while the Bengals are giving up, on average, 262 passing yards per game (30th). The biggest culprits of the Bengals\u2019 leakage in coverage: tackling, communication, and missed assignments. Entering this game, the Bengals have given up 1,048 yards through the air, with 704 coming via yards after the catch (most YAC allowed in the NFL).<\/p>\n Sit back in a clean pocket, dish out accurate passes, and let your boys run.<\/p>\n Key 3: 3rd down efficiency<\/p>\n The Lions have been working to improve their third-down consistency, and they\u2019ve made strides on both sides of the ball.<\/p>\n On offense, they are currently successful on 41.5% of their third-down attempts (11th in the NFL). But they\u2019ve been improved of late. Last week, they completed 43% of their third downs against the Browns, and 50% against the Ravens the week prior.<\/p>\n Working opposite them is a Bengals defense that has struggled to get off the field. On the season, the Bengals are allowing teams to convert 49.1% of their third downs (30th), and last week, they allowed the Broncos to find success at a 57% rate.<\/p>\n As for the Lions\u2019 defense, they\u2019re allowing teams to convert third downs at a 42.7% rate (22nd). However, the number dropped to 21% last week against the Browns and is closer to what they believe they\u2019re capable of, according to Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard.<\/p>\n \u201cThird down, trying to get that percentage down,\u201d Sheppard said on Thursday. \u201cWe held them to three of 14. But that\u2019s what we had been doing; it was just the penalties a lot of times. In a lot of those games, half of the third-down conversions were by way of penalty. So, the players cleaning that stuff up, playing with clean hands at the top of the route, was an emphasis. Those guys did that.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lions\u2019 defense will have a chance to keep things going this week, as the Bengals have only found success on third down 36% of the time (23rd). Things have been even worse over the last two weeks with Browning under center, as they\u2019ve only achieved 27% success on third down in Week 3 and 18% success in Week 4.<\/p>\n Key 4: Clog Cincy\u2019s inside run game<\/p>\n The Bengals run a version of the Shanahan wide zone rushing attack, but they\u2019ve been unable to find any success with it in 2025. As a general rule, they try to run behind and inside their offensive tackles\u2014both while on the move or static\u2014opting for inside runs 59.2% of the time (second-highest rate in the NFL).<\/p>\n The problem is that the offensive line is not opening holes, and defenses are muddying up the middle of their running lanes. And when there are no gaps to find, the running backs are either running into the wash for a loss or hitting a cutback lane with no blockers and trying to win on their own.<\/p>\n Currently, the Bengals\u2019 run game is last in the NFL in:<\/p>\n Rushing DVOA: 32ndSuccess rate: 31.6% (32nd)EPA per rush: -0.22 (32nd)Rush yards per game: 50 (32nd)Rush yards per play: 2.6 (32nd)Rush yards over expected: -69 (32nd)Rush yard before contact: -0.33 (32nd)10+ yards rushes this season: 2 (32nd)<\/p>\n No matter which gap they try to run in, their EPA is in the negative:<\/p>\n Credit to Ray Carpenter on Twitter: @csv_enjoyer<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Lions\u2019 run defense is No. 4 in DVOA, holding teams under 94 rushing yards per game (seventh) and is No. 1 in EPA allowed per rush (-0.23). Look for Sheppard to lean on his big interior defensive line to clog the middle and take away the Bengals\u2019 gaps.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, we\u2019ve got guys for days,\u201d Sheppard said of his interior defensive linemen. \u201cI just tell (DL coach Kacy Rodgers) Kace, you just roll them in. I don\u2019t care who\u2019s in the game. We\u2019ve got four defensive tackles that are all starting-caliber players (including Alim McNeill), and that\u2019s something new around here. You guys know. And it\u2019s a joy, I\u2019m glad my first year doing this, I\u2019m able to just have the comfortability that we can roll those guys as we see fit as the game goes.\u201d<\/p>\n Key 5: Keep pressure on Browning<\/p>\n While the Lions coaches are saying they don\u2019t see a difference between the offensive scheme with Burrow on injured reserve and Browning under center, that is surely their way of not tipping their hand for what they\u2019re seeing on film\u2014because things are very different.<\/p>\n First, there are little things, such as Burrow operating mainly out of the shotgun and Browning working mainly under center to help him with play-action. They\u2019ve also tried to dial up Browning\u2019s aggressive tendencies, but that led to five interceptions in six quarters of football (and just 59 passing attempts). The following week, they dialed things back, which fixed the turnovers, but left them wanting more production: just 125 yards on 25 passing attempts.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s Browning\u2019s lack of movement in the pocket and rushed decision-making, which have added to an already difficult situation. Over his last two starts, when pressured, Browning has often simply taken his first read, as he has either felt he didn\u2019t have time to move to his second read or he trusts his accuracy more than he should. Overall, he\u2019s been either overaggressive and reckless or subdued and ineffective.<\/p>\n Pressure has been his nemesis. So let\u2019s take a look at PFF pass block grades for the Bengals\u2019 starting OL, along with their pressures allowed in the last two games:<\/p>\n LT Orlando Brown: 63.0, 6 pressures, 1 sackLG: Dylan Fairchild (rookie): 64.2, 6 pressuresC Ted Karras: 62.6, 4 pressuresRG Jalen Rivers (rookie): 19.8, 4 pressures, 1 sack (1 start)RT Amarius Mims: 49.3, 6 pressures, 2 sacks<\/p>\n The pressure has come from all over, with no real safe place for Browning to hide.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Detroit has been stacking up pressures all season. Through four games, they have 59 pressures (ninth), a 42.1% pressure rate (fifth), have produced 14 sacks (second), along with an NFL-leading 10% sack rate.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, when you\u2019re able to play sticky on the backend, the coverage and rush go hand-in-hand,\u201d Lions coach Dan Campbell explained earlier in the week. \u201cThe stickier you play, you buy yourself a tick to be able to get to the quarterback. He may have to hold it, he\u2019s got to make a perfect throw, lot of times what happens is that\u2019s a sack or it\u2019s a sack-fumble, or it\u2019s a tipped ball or it\u2019s an ill-advised throw that turns into a takeaway.<\/p>\n Key 6: Limit explosives, avoid penalties<\/p>\n If the Bengals are going to move the ball on the Lions, there are probably two ways to do it: Connecting with their elite wide receiver duo or taking advantage of a referee group that likes to throw flags<\/a> by playing a Packer-style of YOLO ball by throwing deep and hoping for a 40-yard pass interference flag.<\/p>\n![\"Credit](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-02-at-12.12.57\u202fPM.png\"\/)
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