Where the Bengals can hurt the Lions the most, opportunity could be what killed the cats
The Bengals might be bad, but they have ways to hurt Detroit
The Detroit Lions are back on the road this week to take on the Cincinnati Bengals. A team that has had a very rough last few weeks. After a 2-0 start, they lost Joe Burrow, and they’ve been blown out in their last two games. This has all the makings of a blowout win for the Lions, and it’s going to be hard to convince people otherwise.
Heck, even I had a hard time just getting our Bengals beat writer, John Sheeran, to tell me something good about the team he covers. Ultimately, we landed on the Bengals being a pretty opportunistic team in the secondary.
The Bengals’ defense has been good at taking advantage of mistakes
“Cincinnati has already shown to be more opportunistic as a defense this season compared to last. You can easily say the turnovers this group has forced are mainly responsible for the club’s two wins on the year. Safety Jordan Battle has two interceptions and was very close to a third. Cornerback DJ Turner II and Dax Hill have flashed in man coverage, and tackling is generally improved across the board. It really comes down to the pass rush, which has been non-existent for 90% of the time. Pressure has created opportunities that have been cashed in at a decent rate. If Detroit can keep Jared Goff clean, then the Bengals aren’t likely to make the plays needed to spark an upset.”
So far this year, the Lions have been very good about playing clean football. They’ve turned the ball over just twice in the first four games, but like every team, there’s been some luck involved. Maybe a dropped pick here or there. The Bengals seemed to be taking care of business in that area. They have to if they want a chance to win games.
So the Lions have to make sure they play a clean game here. That’s actually what Lions head coach Dan Campbell said the emphasis for the Lions was going to be this week during his interview on 97.1 The Ticket.
“The emphasis is to play clean football in all three phases and win the freaking game.”
The Lions need to make sure they listen to that emphasis, because the Bengals are really hoping they don’t
