Bengals Week 14 PFF Recap: 3 stats to know
Every week, win or lose, we'll dive into the premium stats from Pro Football Focus and identify three stats to know from the previous Cincinnati Bengals game.The changes for Cincinnati's offense continue to bear fruit for Jake Browning and Co. Sunday's victory over the Indianapolis Colts saw a complete game for all three phases, and […]
Every week, win or lose, we'll dive into the premium stats from Pro Football Focus and identify three stats to know from the previous Cincinnati Bengals game.
The changes for Cincinnati's offense continue to bear fruit for Jake Browning and Co. Sunday's victory over the Indianapolis Colts saw a complete game for all three phases, and a rookie that was once buried on the depth chart made the most of his first chance at extended playing time.
Let's see what the advanced stats had to say about the Bengals' Week 14 performance.
CB DJ Ivey: Four yards allowed in coverage on three targets
Cam Taylor-Britt's ankle injury and Mike Hilton's occasional snaps at safety have opened the door for Ivey, Cincinnati's seventh-round pick this year, to get quality reps in at cornerback. Ivey was out there for 14 snaps on Sunday, and Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew tested him more frequently than any other defender relative to his snap count.
Ivey was targeted three times in 10 coverage snaps and allowed just one four-yard reception to Michael Pittman. His most impressive rep featured him running step-for-step with Alec Pierce down the sideline and deflected Minshew's pass at the catch point, despite losing inside leverage.
Long speed and long arms are going to keep Ivey in the league for a long time, as will game-changing plays on special teams. Early in the fourth quarter, Ivey forced a Colts player into punt returner Isaiah McKenzie, which caused McKenzie to muff the punt and fumble. Ivey recovered the fumble he had indirectly forced, and the Bengals kicked a field goal five plays later to make it a three-score game.
Ivey was given the recipe for more playing time down the road and made a meal worth three Michelin stars. I'd say that's pretty good.
Bengals' offensive line: Held Colts DT Deforest Buckner to one pressure
Buckner has been one of the NFL's best interior defenders for a while, and 2023 has been no different. He entered Week 14 fourth in pass rush grade for qualifying defensive tackles and sported the eighth-best pass rush win rate of 15.2%. Those numbers didn't bother the Bengals' interior o-line.
In 26 pass rushing snaps, Buckner was limited to just one pressure, and a win rate of 4.3%. The quick release of Browning combined with a plethora of screens and short passes effectively neutralized a rather imposing Colts' pass rush altogether.
Needless to say, this is a formula for success when going up against a dominant pass rusher going forward.
Bengals defense: 20 stops to three missed tackles
Cincinnati's run defense improving mostly boils down to the simplest of solutions: Improved tackling. An aggressive defense that flies to the ball close to the line of scrimmage and doesn't allow missed tackles is usually going to do well against opposing running backs.
13 members of the Bengals' defense got in on the action with tackles that stopped a successful play for the Colts. The team's total tackling grade of 88.0 for the week is their highest of the season thus far. A once catastrophic problem has been solved just at the right time, and needs to stay solved for the duration of the season.
Bengals make incredible leap in latest power rankings after two straight wins
The climb has reflected what’s been happening on the field.
