The Cincinnati Bengals got walked up and down the field in Week 2's 31-27 win over the Jaguars after a far more impressive season opener in Cleveland. It's a lot more fun to learn hard lessons while claiming victory than in defeat, is it not?
Well don't think for a second Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden is resting on any laurels from what he's achieved to help deliver the team a 2-0 start. Cincinnati's defense has stood tall in the fourth quarter of each game so far, but Golden sees plenty of room for improvement.
See what Golden had to say about what lies ahead for his unit in Sunday's showdown with the Vikings in Minnesota.
Al Golden owns up to Bengals' defensive struggles, hints at shakeup of roles
Golden held court with the media on Wednesday, and although his forename is Al, he was frank when discussing his own shortcomings.
But Cincinnati's defensive shot-caller also left room for interpretation as to what he meant by his adjustments and what that could entail for certain players' roles, as reported by FOX19's Charlie Goldsmith:
"I've got to put them in better positions so we can get off the field. I've failed in that so far. [...] I've got to spearhead that and make sure that marriage is what we need it to be. Everyone is exotic on third downs. I don't want to be exotic just to be exotic. I've got to do a really good job of identifying our strengths and making sure I utilize guys in the best available roles so that we can have success collectively. In terms of exotic, everyone has all of that stuff. We've got to do what's best for us and identify some of those roles."
Third down was an issue against the Jags and Browns, as Golden's defense ranks 30th out of 32 NFL teams in yielding a conversion rate of 51.7%. Four interceptions have helped offset that glaring flaw. The question is, will relying too much on takeaways generate diminishing returns as the season goes?
Chunk plays through the air have hurt Cincinnati so far. The pass defense ranks bottom-five, and Trey Hendrickson is carrying the pass rush all by himself for the most part.
In viewing some of the all-22 film from Week 2, at least in the early going, the Jaguars attacked the Bengals' Cover 3 zones with great efficacy. On the opening drive alone, they hit a sail route and another intermediate seam area throw that almost looked like a sight adjust. Or it was just the perfect play call by Liam Coen in both those instances.
Per X/Twitter's Football Insights, Cincinnati lives in the one-high safety world right now (Cover 1 27%; Cover 3 32%) in a modern NFL that's shifting far more to two-high coverage shells due to explosive passing attacks. From what I saw on the Jags film, Golden did get to some cool Cover 6 invert post-snap rotations. He's called Cover 6 at a 23% clip through two weeks.
Golden's Week 3 counterpart, Brian Flores, likes to deploy exotic, non-traditional Tampa Cover 2 looks. Those alignments are nary or rarely anywhere to be found in the Bengals' system. They much prefer quarter-quarter-half (aka the aforementioned Cover 6), running Cover 2 on only 7% of snaps.
This 2025 Bengals defense has the lowest blitz rate (4%) in the league so far. They aren't really getting home with their pass rush, however. Last Sunday's game could've resulted in a 14-0 deficit if not for Hendrickson forcing a well-timed QB pressure that led to a Dax Hill interception off Trevor Lawrence.
PICKED OFF ‼️
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 14, 2025
📺: #JAXvsCIN on CBS/Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/Ct2xF7j8mR
Other than Hendrickson, no other Cincinnati pass-rusher has done much to write home about. Rookie first-round pick Shemar Stewart is week-to-week with ankle and knee injuries, and he's easily the best hope in the defensive end group.
I'm actually optimistic about Golden rallying the troops and showing out in Minnesota. Carson Wentz under the steady play-calling hand of Kevin O'Connell isn't to be underestimated, yet the Vikings are so shorthanded as is, apart from the obvious J.J. McCarthy injury.
If Golden didn't show anything from his bag of tricks amid a turbulent preseason, it's quite possible he's saving up some complex blitzes for when he needs them most. Maybe we'll see a more aggressive mindset when it comes to blitzing in Week 3. Couldn't hurt to help Hendrickson hound Wentz, that's for sure!
Going against a backup in Wentz would be a good time for Golden to experiment with players' roles, like he hinted at on Wednesday. Maybe reclamation project Isaiah Foskey will get called up to the active roster to bolster a defensive end corps whose depth behind Hendrickson at the minute is merely Joseph Ossai, Myles Murphy, and Cam Sample.
Wouldn't be a bad idea to give Dax Hill a bit more of a rest either. Hill and Josh Newton split time at nickel (34 snaps to 12 respectively) in Week 1. The DB known as "Fig" also flexed out to the boundary for 15 plays, only to see his workload shrink versus Jacksonville to seven snaps total. Meanwhile, Hill played 71.
Finally, I love me some Oren Burks. The man is a heat-seeking missile versus the run. Understanding that he has real value on special teams, I'd like to see Burks and his stellar 79.5 PFF run defense grade earn more snaps next to Logan Wilson.
Sunday will show us what else Golden has up his sleeve. Good to know he's seeing the Bengals' defensive struggles for what they are. It's nice to celebrate the plethora of timely INTs and victories for now, but especially with Jake Browning taking the offensive reins from Joe Burrow, Cincinnati's D must answer the bell as often as possible to stay in playoff contention.