Bengals Defense’s Performance Against Commanders Uglier Than Anything From 2023

CINCINNATI – Communication issues were at the heart of the defensive struggles that had as much to do with the unraveling of the Cincinnati Bengals’ 2023 season as anything else.

Monday night’s performance against the Washington Commanders and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels was worse than anything we witnessed a year ago.

Even on their worst weekends a year ago, they found a way to get at least one turnover or force a single punt. Monday night wasn’t about miscommunication. In fact, the message was quite clear:

“It sucks.”

The players who leaned on the phrase were talking more about the cavernous 0-3 hole the team finds itself in rather than the actual performance.

But it fits both ways.

Rookie Jayden Daniels Has Easy Time Against Bengals Defense

“It sucks. It’s frustrating,” Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson said. “No one wants to come in here and go 0-3 to start the season with a team we know is capable of doing some things. Right now, we’re not doing it. We’re not clicking.”

Daniels completed 21 of 23 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns.

He’s the first rookie in NFL history to complete 70% of his passes and post a passer rating of at least 90 in each of his first three games.

Among quarterbacks with at least seven attempts, Daniels’ .913 completion percentage was the second highest ever against the Bengals, trailing the Minnesota Vikings’ Fran Tarkenton, who went 17 of 18 (.944) in 1977.

When Daniels wasn’t hitting his receivers, he was taking off running. That yardage wasn’t massive, but it was significant, keeping the Commanders in manageable situations.

“When you’ve got an athletic quarterback who can make plays with his feet, it’s tough,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “It’s similar to some guys that we play in our division in terms of how he can beat you.”

But not even Lamar Jackson or Deshaun Watson have beaten the Bengals the way Daniels did, consistently moving the chains with short yards to gain and scoring touchdowns on each of the first four (non-kneel down) possessions.

On Washington’s opening touchdown drive, it faced one third down. Cincinnati got the stop, but Daniels converted on 4th-and-2 with a short pass to Luke McCaffrey.

On the Commanders’ second touchdown drive, they never faced third down.

On the third, there was one third down — 3rd-and-1.

On the fourth, there was one third down — 3rd-and-1.

With 3:03 left in the third quarter, Washington had more touchdowns (four) than third downs faced (three).

“We’ve just got to find ways to get off the field,” Wilson said. “I don’t even know what they were on third down, but we’ve got to find ways to get off the field, get turnovers. It’s frustrating. And no one is more frustrated than we are.

“We didn’t get enough plays, like (tackles for loss), to get them off track,” he added. “And if we did, there was a penalty.”

Some of the 3rd-and-1 plays could have been more difficult, but tackling issues that plagued the team in the season-opening loss to the New England Patriots surfaced again.

“There were some tackles (we missed) on the perimeter,” Taylor said. “We had a chance to get the ball carrier down on some quick screens and some perimeter bubbles and things like that.”

Washington’s fifth drive, which only ended in a field goal, featured three third downs. The Commanders converted 3rd-and-1, failed on 3rd-and-4 but moved the chains anyhow on 4th-and-1, and came up short again on 3rd-and-5, settling for the field goal.

The process changed on the next drive.

After converting 3rd-and-2, Washington faced its first real adversity on a 3rd-and-12. Daniels hit Dyami Brown for eight yards and connected with Zach Ertz for nine on 4th-and-4.

READ MORE: Bengals vs. Commanders Observations — Defense Gashed by Rookie QB

The final play of the drive was 3rd-and-7, and Daniels found himself under pressure for one of the few times in the game. He stood in, took a shot from safety Geno Stone and dropped a 27-yard touchdown pass to McLaurin in the end zone.

“They were doing a lot of hurry up and speed-breaking us,” safety Geno Stone said. “That’s on us. We have to communicate and make sure we’re on the same page. I tip my hat to him (Daniels). He played a great game.”

Washington had eight drives — five ended in touchdowns, one in a field goal, and two in kneel-downs at the end of each half.

“There were some opportunities to put them in 2nd-and-10, 2nd-and-11, and get them to a good third-down (distance),” Taylor said. “They made those plays, and we didn’t. We take a lot of pride in that stuff. I know our defense does. And we’ve got to get back to work and do a better job next week.”

It would be hard to be worse.

“We just have to be a lot better than we have been. It’s frustrating,” Wilson said. “It’s the nature of what we’re dealing with. We just have to find a way through it, weather the storm.”