Cincinnati Bengals Must Shore Up Defensive Lapses to Keep Historic Run Alive

It's celebration time in Cincinnati. The Bengals sit at 5-0 for the first time since 1988, the last time the franchise appeared in the Super Bowl. It's the first time an AFC North team has hit the mark since the realignment. 

Historic feats, sure, but if the Bengals don't clean up a few issues, the run could fizzle instead of endure.

There's no reason not to be impressed with the Bengals. Down big versus the Seattle Seahawks, Andy Dalton (who finished with 331 yards and two scores against the Legion of Boom) and the team rallied back to throw 17 points on the board in the final frame before Mike Nugent doinked in the game-winning kick in overtime. 

Hyperbolic or not, the Bengals of old wouldn't have pulled off such a feat. The problem, though, is the grand scale of the comeback that has garnered respect and national attention overshadows the team's issues.

The majority of the issues fall on the defense. Folks will always recall the Adam Jones interception late in the game. What might fall to the wayside are the many blown coverages, the incessant holes left by the rush that Seattle attacked all day.

Thomas Rawls, playing in place of Marshawn Lynch, ran for 169 yards and a score on 23 carries. That's 7.3 yards per carry. Every notable back Cincinnati has faced this year with the exception of Baltimore's Justin Forsett has averaged at least four yards per carry against the defense.

The struggles are of the fundamental variety, too, with missed tackles or a gaffe captured by Bleacher Report's Cian Fahey leading the way as examples:

"

I think I know why Thomas Rawls ran for so man yards... pic.twitter.com/Sd28rwL0iU

— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) October 12, 2015"

To be specific, Cincinnati lacks a stunning amount of athleticism in its linebacking corps. Quarterbacks have exposed this for weeks in the intermediate passing game, and so, too, have running backs.

Now compound the issue with missed tackles. Per Pro Football Focus, the Bengals missed eight of them against Seattle, helping a backup to resemble, well, Lynch. In total, the Bengals have missed a whopping 47 tackles.

For comparison's sake, the two worst-graded defenses at PFF are the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Cleveland has missed 41 tackles, Tampa Bay 48.

Again, these are mostly correctable issues and sound like nitpicking, but the defense's performance against Seattle couldn't have been what coordinator Paul Guenther had in mind when he spoke before the game about cleaning up fundamental hiccups.

"The rush lanes have to be solid," Guenther said, per ESPN.com's Coley Harvey. "They have to understand we just can't run up the field and get out of the lanes, because they're [quarterbacks like Wilson] going to take off and run. It happened four or five times [Sunday]. It can't happen."

The same interview talked about chunk plays, especially through the air. Rawls busted off a 69-yard run. Doug Baldwin caught a 46-yard pass. Jermaine Kearse caught a 30-yard pass. Jimmy Graham had one go for 22 yards, and so did Tyler Lockett.

So no, it's not going to be a fun film session for the defense this week, no matter how well the unit played when it mattered most. The team couldn't have won without the unit's outstanding play late in the game, but it was also responsible for helping to place the team in the hole in the first place.

Gary Landers/Associated Press

Perhaps it was safety George Iloka who put it best after the game in an interview with Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com: “In the big picture it means nothing. It just means we have a chance to go 6-0 next week. In terms of the type of win, it was good growth.”

Good growth, indeed. The notion applies to the organization as a whole given the historic run. The team has grown into a contender and got out to one of the fastest starts in franchise history. 

Like the obvious overarching goal, a playoff win and so much more, the short-term goals aren't hard to figure out. The offense has things in order, but defensive lapses stick out as the biggest correctable item.

The good news? Cincinnati is undefeated despite the issues, a testament to the team's talent and, well, good growth. Improvement in lacking areas would only further reinforce the growing belief these aren't the same old Bengals, that these all-grown-up Bengals can achieve something special this year.

Stats courtesy of NFL.com and accurate as of October 12. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.