Bengals' Defensive Keys to a Decisive Win over San Diego

When the Cincinnati Bengals take the field on Sunday to host the San Diego Chargers in their AFC wild-card playoff matchup, all eyes will be on Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and whether or not he can finally help—rather than hurt—his team's chances to win their first postseason game since 1990.

However, the Bengals defense will have an equally demanding task. The Chargers reached the playoffs primarily because of their offense, led by quarterback Philip Rivers. Without keeping them in check, the Bengals could have a long day, and a shootout, on their hands.

The Bengals have one of the better defenses in the league, ranking third in yards per game allowed at 305.3—289.4 at home—and are second in third-down conversions allowed (32.89 percent) and sixth in points per game allowed (19.1—16.8 at home). That makes the Bengals well-suited to stopping the high-powered Chargers on Sunday.

YPG	Rank	PPG	Rank	3rd D%	Rank	RZ Att/G	Rank	RZ TD%	Rank
305.5	3	19.1	6	32.89%	2	2.2	1	50%	9

To examine how the Bengals defense can limit the effectiveness of San Diego's offense, one only has to look to Week 13, when the Bengals beat the Chargers in San Diego, 17-10. It was the fewest points that the Chargers were held to all season, and it wasn't a fluke. The Bengals had a perfect game plan for keeping the Chargers out of the end zone to provide a template for this Sunday.

The biggest key is to keep Rivers' passing game in check. Rivers has been phenomenal this season, completing 69.5 percent of his passes with 32 passing touchdowns and just 11 interceptions. He's been sacked only 30 times, down from 49 last year. He's Pro Football Focus' second-ranked quarterback on the season (subscription required) and tops in their accuracy percentage measurement at 79 percent.

Rivers had a fairly good day in his first meeting with the Bengals, completing 23 of his 37 passes for 252 yards. However, he only threw one touchdown—a 30-yard strike to tight end Ladarius Green—and threw an interception. The Chargers did not reach the red zone once in the contest, which will be the Bengals' goal again this week.

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The Bengals defense allows opponents the fewest average red zone appearances of any team this season at 2.2 percent, with that dipping to just 1.9 at home. Among those scoring opportunities, the Bengals have given up touchdowns only 50 percent of the time, and only 40 percent of the time at home. 

In Week 13, only one Chargers receiver had a good day—rookie Keenan Allen, who had 106 yards on eight receptions. All of Rivers' other targets had no more than 45 receiving yards. The Chargers used Allen all over the field. Five of his receptions came while being covered by Bengals cornerback Adam Jones, one while being covered by cornerback Terence Newman, and two while covered by safety George Iloka. 

The Bengals need to be prepared for this to happen again, with corner Dre Kirkpatrick likely getting the most attention should Newman again be sidelined with his MCL sprain. Kirkpatrick has been picked on often over the three weeks he has started in place of Newman, with 18 targets thrown his direction.

In that time, 10 have been caught, for 110 yards and one touchdown. However, he's also showed off what made him a first-round draft pick in 2012, notching two interceptions in those three games. 

YPG	Rank	PPG	Rank	3rd D%	Rank	RZ Att/G	Rank	RZ TD%	Rank
393.3	5	24.8	12	49.03%	1	3.7	5	50.85%	25

The Bengals might be smart to go with a "bend-but-don't-break" approach when it comes to stopping the rangy Allen. After all, the Bengals would be more than happy for Allen to get all the yards he wants if they can stop Chargers' drives at midfield, as they often did in Week 13.

The other, more experienced, members of Cincinnati's secondary could then work on limiting the other weapons available to Rivers, such as tight end Antonio Gates, pass-catching running back Danny Woodhead and, to lesser extents, Green and receiver Vincent Brown.

There's also the matter of the Chargers running game to consider. While the Chargers are a top-five team in average passing yards, they also run the ball a lot, with their 30.4 average rushing attempts ranking sixth most in the league. They average 122.8 rushing yards per game and 115.8 rushing yards on the road.

Though running the ball hasn't yielded the Chargers many points, considering their 0.6 rushing touchdown per-game average, it does help them build drives and control the clock. 

The Bengals aren't an easy team to run against, however. Teams only attempt to do so 24.1 times per game for a net of only 96.5 yards. That falls in line with how the Chargers fared on the ground in Week 13, with a total of 91 yards gained on their 24 rushing attempts. Fourteen of those carries went to Ryan Mathews, who had 61 rushing yards while Woodhead ran seven times for 22 yards.

Though not every member of the Bengals defensive front seven is brilliant at stopping the run, those who are do so masterfully. Those include linebacker Vontaze Burfict, the league's tackling leader, defensive ends Michael Johnson and Carlos Dunlap and James Harrison, who has turned from an edge-rusher to an edge-defender. 

Stopping the Chargers' run game would be the best way to kill their drives before they could get deep into Bengals territory. By stuffing San Diego's runs that mainly come on first and second downs, they can pin the Chargers into unfavorable down-and-distance situations.

Rivers has been quite good in long-yardage down situations, with a completion percentage of 71.4 on first down with six or more yards to go, and 73.6 on second down with six or more yards to gain. 

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

However, on third downs with six or more yards to go, Rivers' completion percentage drops to 65.9 percent. That's still a high completion percentage, but it is also a significant drop from other downs in long-yardage situations. By limiting the yardage that either Mathews or Woodhead gain on those early rushing downs, it puts Rivers in obvious passing situations, making the Chargers easier to defend.

That can also expose him to the Bengals pass rush, even though he has been protected well by his offensive line this season compared to last season. When the Chargers and Bengals met in Week 13, the Bengals sacked Rivers only twice. With Rivers having taken only 30 sacks this season, that was a good performance. Rivers' sack totals could reach three or four on Sunday, simply because the Bengals have home-field advantage.

Ultimately, the Bengals defense has a challenge ahead, but not an unmanageable one. If it could hold the Chargers to 10 points in San Diego and keep the New England Patriots to only six points with no touchdowns in Cincinnati, then it stands to reason that it can keep the Chargers out of the end zone and out of the playoff win column on Sunday.