The Cincinnati Bengals couldn't have looked much worse on defense in Sunday's 47-42 loss to the Chicago Bears, and multiple defensive players reportedly gave the media the cold shoulder afterwards.
So not only is the defense unserious on the field. Some of their core players are unserious away from it in terms of talking about what went wrong. Fans deserve an explanation for such poor buy-in to defensive coordinator Al Golden's system, and the general ghastly performance of the unit.
Meanwhile, offensive stars like running back Chase Brown are left to pick up the pieces, wondering how they could've put up 38 points and 35 points (not including Charlie Jones' opening kickoff return TD) the past two weeks and lost twice.
Bengals RB Chase Brown baffled by Bengals defense's breakdowns in loss to Bears
All-Pro wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase wasn't the only one to resort to profanity to express his displeasure with the Bengals' inability to get a stop. Chase Brown was right there with him.
As captured by CLNSCincy.com's Mike Petraglia, Brown went on a postgame tirade for the ages. He didn't even care that it was in front of the media in his brutally honest reply about his thoughts on the defense.
Chase Brown has had it with the defense. “What the f—k.. Finish the f-ing game.” pic.twitter.com/WF9Klk0psc
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) November 2, 2025
"It sucks. [...] What the f***? What the f***? [...] I'd be lying if I said it didn't set us back from where we want to be. Our mentality was 3-0 going into this bye week, and we could've easily done it. That's the sickening part. [...] We just gotta play complementary football. We put the ball in the end zone, and go up a point at the end, finish the f*****g game. Just end it."
Whereas Chase was angered by Cincinnati yielding a game-winning touchdown on his way back to the locker room, Brown didn't hold back when he fully knew the cameras were rolling. Chase wound up sounding off some on his own in front of reporters, but let's just focus on Brown here.
Props to Brown for being real. You can only take so much accountability on your end before it rings untrue. Call a spade a spade.
For the second season in a row, the Bengals are absolutely rolling on offense, and their defense is letting them down time and again. These numbers almost seem fake.
The #Bengals have given up at least 27 points in 8 straight games.
— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) November 2, 2025
The NFL record since the 1970 merger is 9 in a row.
The Bengals defense missed 15 tackles for 133 additional yards against the Bears, including 35 yards on Colston Loveland's game-winning 58-yard touchdown.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 2, 2025
The Bengals entered Sunday with 94 missed tackles for 645 yards, both most in the NFL.#CHIvsCIN | #DaBears | #WhoDey https://t.co/TadnFeUHid
How can you be so bad on defense when the offense is playing so well? The Bengals couldn't be putting the defense in more favorable spots, yet they keep blowing it at every turn.
Brown did acknowledge that the defense played well to start the year, and emphasized the importance of the players not turning on each other. Easier said than done at this point.
Had the Bengals pulled off a miraculous victory to enter the Week 10 bye with a 4-5 record, perhaps there'd still be hope. Alas, they have to pray for a borderline unprecedented defensive turnaround, still score almost at will, and try to run the table from here on out.
Ten wins usually secures a playoff berth. That means Cincinnati can only afford one more loss after the bye at most. Good luck with that with this defense.