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Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton
steps up in the pocket during action at Jacksonville Sunday.
The Bengals went to 3-1 on the season with a 27-10 win over the
Jaguars. Photo courtesy of bengals.com
Cincinnati Bengals…
Bengals thrash
Jaguars 27-10
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The skeptics can talk about how the Bengals are
8-1 over the past two seasons against losing teams after Sunday's 27-10
thrashing of the Jaguars, but the fact remains that the defense made
inactive four first-round picks from its secondary and was still able
to produce its best defensive effort in 20 games.
After head coach Marvin Lewis flashed the depth of his roster with a
no-frills bulldozing of defending NFL rushing champion Maurice
Jones-Drew with 38 yards on 13 carries, he had to admit it's the
deepest of his 10 seasons.
"I believe we have a better group of guys who can make football plays …
who understand it," Lewis said. "I think they do a great job of seeing
the next guy up and the fact guys are getting an opportunity (to play)
and going in and doing it; you’ve got to credit our coaches for getting
these guys ready to play."
The defensive depth chart may look like a Who's Who of the last decade
of NFL Drafts, but its philosophy is defined by the unwanted and the
unchosen. At least on Sunday when safety Chris Crocker came off the
couch to seal the win with a fourth-quarter interception of Jaguars
quarterback Blaine Gabbert and undrafted rookie linebacker Vontaze
Burfict made one of his team-high eight tackles his first NFL sack.
"You don’t have to be a superstar; just play within the scheme and
we're able to make a bunch of plays," Crocker said. "We're able to get
pressure with our front four and we just do what we're supposed to do
the back end."
Crocker, clearly savoring a moment he has been aching for since the
Bengals cut him April 6, smiled.
"That's the third ball I've caught since Houston," he said of January's
playoff game, his last action since no team signed him until the
Bengals asked him to come in Thursday.
But that front four made things a whole lot easier for the undermanned
secondary. For the first time since Dec 2-9, 2001, the defense came up
with back-to-back six-sack games, which just shows how important left
end Carlos Dunlap is. In his second game back from a knee injury, he
had a sack and his constant bull rushes and right end Michael Johnson's
perpetual speed rushes collapsed the pocket and led to, among other
things, tackle Geno Atkins's two sacks.
How deep are the Bengals?
Johnson, the reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week, didn't make the
stat sheet on a day the Bengals gave the Jags 212 yards, their best
outing since the Ravens got 199 yards in the 2010 finale.
"Stop the run and get some sacks and you're going to win a lot of
games," Peko said.
Old friend Bob Bratkowski, the new Jaguars offensive coordinator, chose
to test the secondary right away, throwing on his first three first
downs even though the NFL's 31st-ranked run defense was pitted against
Jones-Drew a week after he had blitzed the Colts for 177 yards.
The three snaps showed what was to come. Tackle Domata Peko and outside
linebacker Manny Lawson rung up sacks, and Gabbert had to scramble on
another as the young Jaguars receivers never really got it together.
Gabbert's longest completion to a wide receiver was Laurent Robinson's
19-yarder.
"Our defense went out and had fun today," said Peko, who celebrated his
sack with what he called a "Gangnam Style" dance. "We came in with a
chip on our shoulders. We haven't been playing good defense and I think
our best defense is in front of us."
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