When discussing the Cincinnati Bengals’ offseason and which defensive inadequacy needed the most addressing, the answer was ‘yes!’
Close your eyes and throw a dart anywhere at the defense, and start there. Luckily for the Bengals and defensive coordinator Al Golden, that particular flechette landed on pass rush.
Cincinnati’s front office opened its eyes and went to work. Too late for the past two seasons, surely, yet not a moment too soon, as indicated by another wretched stat.
Latest rankings expose Bengals’ 2025 pass-rush disaster
Football insights put together a composite ranking of defensive pressures from the 2025 season.
Defensive Pressure composite ratings last season. Uses film grades, tracking data, efficiency relative to opponent strength and time to throw (evenly-weighted) pic.twitter.com/6WUnntxvD8
— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) May 28, 2026
Unfortunately, all they did was confirm what Bengals fans saw every week. More so, what we, or opposing quarterbacks, did not see.
Using grades from several advanced stats, including DVOA, PFF, ESPN, EPA, and PROE (pressure percentage over expectation), the Bengals ranked 31st with an overall score of 17.6 out of 100.
The Bengals rank woefully behind their AFC North rivals, the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers, which rank first and fifth in Football Insights’ rankings, respectively. Cincinnati being so far down this list is not much of a surprise, given that ESPN gave them a pass-rush win rate of 29%, which ranked last in the NFL.
Yet, it is just the latest indication of how far the team had to go to improve a subpar defense this offseason.
Bengals finally took aggressive approach to fixing defense
To their credit, the Bengals took a fresh approach to addressing the lack of pressure on opposing quarterbacks over the past few seasons.
The front office eschewed taking yet another chance and missing on a high draft pick and instead opted for more seasoned help. When you think about it, the Bengals did an excellent job overhauling two critical aspects of their lacking defense.
First, the front office struck gold by maneuvering from one of the worst tackling defenders in the NFL in Geno Stone to one of the best tackling safeties in Bryan Cook. Furthermore, they added incredible talent up front with the acquisition of Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen, Boye Mafe, and Cashius Howell.
With those offseason flourishes, the team should be significantly better at pressuring QBs this upcoming season.
And conceivably, next year this time, when Football Insights releases its 2027 defensive pressure composite ratings, the Bengals will be closer to the top, where their division rivals, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, are now.
Add us as a preferred source on Google