The Bengals' DVOA rating slid once again, as they now sit at twentieth in the league at a well below-average -6.3%. According to the metric, defense and special teams have been the main issues. While the defense has been overrated by fans, I'm not so sure it's worse than the offense.
Passing the ball and defending the pass -- as well as the kicking game -- are really hurting the ranking at this point. Unfortunately, I don't see this changing defensively. With Antwan Odom on IR, the D will struggle to get a consistent pass rush, which will further expose the poor safety play and thin corner depth.
So far this season, Mike Zimmer has focused on stopping the opposing team's number one target; this is shown in the number three ranking against number one receivers despite Sunday's putrid performance against Andre Johnson . Although Leon Hall has had a mostly solid season, a lot of this has to do with Zimmer rolling zone coverage toward the number one's side. Providing extra linebacker support allows Hall to play back and defend the deep ball, but also leaves other parts of the field vulnerable and makes the defense too dependent on the safeties, who have defended running backs and slot receivers poorly.
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