NFL-leading change to Bengals defense was frustratingly obvious all along

How could it take so long for the Cincinnati Bengals to make meaningful tactical adjustments to fix their flailing defense? New coordinator Al Golden has gotten roasted all year, to the point where fans were calling for his job by midseason.

Head coach Zac Taylor stuck by the familiar face he brought in to replace Colts DC Lou Anarumo, who's crushing it in Indy and being bandied in head coaching rumors.

But Golden has acquitted himself well in recent weeks with one tweak to his approach that's so simple, one wonders why it wasn't deployed far sooner.

All Al Golden needed to do was call more Cover Zero to spark Bengals defense sooner

I wrote an article in the vein of this one's premise earlier in the week about Al Golden's blitz rate in general, but new data from Football Insights on X/Twitter puts everything in a new context.

It's one thing to get players to execute complex zone blitzes, or simulated pressures, where say a defensive tackle spot drops into coverage while a linebacker rushes from the A gap.

We're talking about...playoffs? NO. DON'T JINX IT. For real, we're talking about Cover Zero.

For the uninitiated, a Cover Zero blitz is when a team sends extra rushers to harass the opposing quarterback into a hurried throw, with no safety help over the top. No post safety. No two-high look. Defensive backs on an island. It creates pressure, forces fast decision-making and is a big roll of the dice. Cover Zero can either yield a big play, or just as easily cause a takeaway.

Check out the Cover Zero rate in more recent games, compared to how often Cincinnati has made that call throughout the whole season.

OK in case that formatting is wonky, Cincinnati has dialed up "zero" blitzes on opponents at a 9% clip from Weeks 8 through 13, yet are only up at 6% for the season.

The Bengals' season-long Cover Zero rate jumped from 3% to 5% after Week 8. Take a wild guess as to why. They were facing Justin Fields, the most deer-in-the-headlights pocket QB you'll ever see grace an NFL field.

Rather than continuing to attack as the game wound down, Cincinnati got too conservative, and wound up blowing a late lead to lose 39-38.

Legendary Chiefs mastermind Steve Spagnuolo has made his mark by calling timely blitzes — often of the all-out/Cover Zero variety. Even Kansas City has only run Zero at a 7% clip since Week 8.

Golden's blitz rate in general, particularly in high-leverage situations that are Spags' signature, have gone through the roof.

When your front seven is playing like trash by NFL standards, you can't get a pass rush without Trey Hendrickson on the field, and your rookie linebackers are among the worst at their position in any sport, the key is to simplify.

Calling all-out blitzes seems straightforward. Everyone's coming. Birds on a fence on the back end of the defense. The secondary, er, the DJ Turner-headlined cornerback corps to be more specific is actually a strength of this Bengals team.

Maybe Golden felt like his players couldn't handle the other more challenging calls on his play sheet, so he couldn't set up those Cover Zero pressures as well as he wanted to.

A reasonable explanation to some. Perhaps. To me, that's not an excuse!

Beyond hot answers that are built into competent passing games that can beat this coverage, Cover Zero can also be defeated by a mobile QB who simply breaks contain, breaks tackles, makes a play out of structure, or can just flat-out run.

Josh Allen fits that description. He'll be facing the Bengals on Sunday in Buffalo.

Will Golden have the guts to dial up a bunch of Cover Zero versus Allen? Or will he lean on more conservative rushes, hoping the recent improvements from defensive ends Joseph Ossai and Myles Murphy continue?

I'll have my popcorn popped, ready to find out. Because that could go a long way in determining whether the Bengals keep their postseason hopes in play.

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