Former Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo was busy this past weekend giving Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs fits at Arrowhead Stadium. Sound familiar?
Too bad "former" is the word that leads this article. Not to say Al Golden is a bad coach, or that the Bengals locker room didn't need a different voice to try to change things up on defense. It's just that Anarumo is crushing it in Indianapolis.
A big reason why the Colts are 8-3 despite a 23-20 loss in overtime at KC is due to Anarumo's schematic brilliance. Well, that and a little help from a friend he worked with in Cincinnati.
Ex-Bengals LB shines for Colts under big-name coordinator Lou Anarumo
That subheading is stated in jest to a certain degree, because let's face it, if any defensive coach out there is a candidate to be a head coach next year, it's Lou Anarumo.
But no. The main subject here is Germaine Pratt, who Anarumo pounded the table for once Pratt was granted his release from the Raiders. Good decision there, Germaine!
While you could argue the writing was on the wall for Pratt in Cincy that he'd get cut this past offseason, the Bengals didn't let him go until June 9. That was more than a month after they'd drafted rookies Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter, who now start and are anchors for one of the very worst defenses in modern NFL history.
For a Bengals defensive unit that can't tackle, they sure could use someone like Pratt, whose monster 20-tackle effort versus the Chiefs continued his strong 2025 campaign.
Germaine Pratt has missed just 3 tackles in 2025.
— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) November 24, 2025
That's the lowest missed tackle percentage of his career according to PFF.
2025: 3.7%
2024: 12.2% https://t.co/zaC5SRHSxy
NFL Media's Daniel Jeremiah used to be a scout, so it's not as if he's using the box score to evaluate players. Measuring a linebacker by tackles alone only tells part of the story. If they're making those stops too far downfield, it doesn't matter. Evidently that's not the case with Pratt.
Shouldn't the Bengals have just rolled with Germaine Pratt, Logan Wilson, Akeem Davis-Gaither, and free-agent pickup Oren Burks? The latter was a playoff hero on that Eagles Super Bowl team!
Whether they should have or not, it's not what Cincinnati's brass decided to do. It's proven costly.
Pratt is balling out in Indy for a playoff-bound Colts team. The first-time captain Wilson was traded to Dallas for a bag of peanuts. Davis-Gaither is starting in Arizona and playing at a level well beyond any current Bengals linebacker. And Burks is used too sparingly to get into a rhythm.
What a masterclass by Duke Tobin and the personnel department. This is what happens when you try to outthink the room and are an arrogant purist about your draft big board. You sabotage your football team.
Can't wait to see Trey Hendrickson ball out for another team in 2026.