Al Golden and the Bengals defense will have their hands full with Falcons' weapons

The Cincinnati Bengals will take on the Atlanta Falcons in Madrid, Spain, for a chance to improve to 6-2 on the season, but their 3-5 record doesn't mean it will be easy.

The Bengals and defensive coordinator Al Golden will have to try to prevent the opposing quarterback from having a career-best game for the third week in a row. Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is coming off one of the worst games of his career, in which he had a passer rating of 12.0 in a monsoon-ridden loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Even though Penix has struggled, he will have weapons the likes of which the Bengals have not seen this season to get back on track. Running back Bijan Robinson is far and away the best running back the Bengals will have seen this season, and the same goes for wide receiver Drake London.

The threat of the Atlanta Falcons run game will force the Cincinnati Bengals defense into a tough position

If the Bengals defense wants to get back on track, they will need to stop the multiple weapons on the Atlanta offense. One of them is running back Bijan Robinson, who star Bengals defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence had high praise for in an article on Heavy.com.

“I think Bijan is probably the best back in the league,” Lawrence said

Robinson is a mere 17 yards away from crossing the 1,000-yard all-purpose threshold as the Falcons enter Week 9. With over 200 receiving yards for the season, he could provide Penix Jr. with an easy outlet to get his confidence back after throwing four interceptions against Tampa Bay in Week 8.

If Penix can merely keep the Bengals honest throwing the ball and execute simple plays, it opens up so much for Bijan Robinson, who’s liable to make Cincinnati pay dearly. Atlanta relies on a heavy outside zone running scheme, and rushes on the perimeter are precisely where the Bengals have gotten gashed time and again. We saw last week how rough it was when Cam Ward was able to just execute within the structure of the offense. Tony Pollard ran all over Cincinnati, and the floodgates just kept opening all day, admittedly aided in part by the Bengals’ four turnovers.

But alarm bells are going off all over the place in this matchup. Cincinnati allows 4.8 yards per carry on the season. This is despite the fact that opponents average 25.3 yards per carry against them. That five-yard threshold is exactly where the Bengals struggle the most when it comes to tackling. If Robinson gets to the second level, the Bengals will have to swarm to the ball if they want to bring him down in the open field.

It’s not like the Bengals’ foes are just piling up garbage-time rushing yardage on cheap draw package plays. They’re flourishing in the flow of competitive games despite the myriad disruptive plays made by Dexter Lawrence, Boye Mafe and Jonathan Allen in the trenches.

Robinson's 780 rushing yards on the season will force Golden to respect the run, which will make it easier for the Falcons to attack the second level and move the ball downfield quickly against the Bengals. If the Bengals do manage to keep Robinson in check, they will still have to worry about wide receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts on the back end.

The Cincinnati Bengals defense will have to stop passing weapons unlike any they've faced this season

While Pitts has had an underwhelming career as someone who was taken ahead of Bengals star wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, he still leads the Falcons with four receiving touchdowns. More importantly, the Bengals have struggled immensely with tight ends this season. Only the Detroit Lions have allowed more yards to opposing tight ends, with 684 receiving yards allowed compared with the Bengals 621.

Bengals linebackers Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. will have to avoid falling for fakes if they want to stop Pitts over the middle, which will be difficult with the threat of Robinson's home run threat. If they can do that, safety Bryan Cook will have to put a lid on London, even if he doesn't have the help of the Bengals best cornerback, D.J. Turner, who was a full participant in practice after leaving the Titans game with a heel injury.

London is sixth in the NFL with 624 receiving yards, a better mark than any receiver the Bengals have faced so far this season. London excels against 1-high coverage, a defense that Golden elects to play more often than 70% of NFL defenses.

With multiple weapons threatening, a suddenly battered Bengals defensive line can still do a lot to mitigate the Falcons offense. With up-and-coming edge rusher Cashius Howell heading to IR, free agent signings Dexter Lawrence and Boye Mafe will need to continue to dominate.

Lawrence can play a massive role in mitigating the threat of Robinson, while Mafe can help shut down threats on the back end by forcing Penix Jr. to throw before he's ready. Still, the speed and off-tackle running ability of Robinson will make it hard for Lawrence to completely shut him down. Strong open-field tackling from the linebackers and secondary will be necessary, which is something that the Bengals still haven't figured out.

If they struggled to bring down Titans running back Tony Pollard in Week 8, Robinson will likely cause more problems. A strong run game will make it easier for Penix Jr. to have a career game against the Bengals like the quarterbacks of the last two weeks, but there is still no excuse for the Bengals to not be able to shut down a quarterback who had a 19.0 Pro Football Focus grade in Week 8.

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