Going into the year, the Bengals defensive unit looked to be a lot better. But the doubt remained whether they would know how to overcome a few of the deficiencies of the 2008 year’s team. Let’s break down the three vital facets as I see things.

The Bengals rarely got to the quarterback in the 2008 year, and when they were able to, it routinely came from the linebacker position.

At some point in the game against the Broncos on Sunday, the Bengals recorded three sacks, all of which came from the defensive unit. DE Antwan Odom had two sacks, which included one big one late in the game, which put Denver out of field goal range.

The other came from Jonathan Fanene.

At the moment, I would say the d-line seems better in the area of attacking the QB, but there is room for a lot of advancement. A lot of that comes from the other end, Robert Geathers, but his unpredictability continues to be a problem.

In the preseason, the d-line seemed as if they were definitely going to take it to the next level, regarding defending the run. The signing of Tank Johnson was destined to help in this area.

For the game vs. the Broncos, the run defense was fairly unexciting. There was nothing that stood out, but the defensive line didn’t yield any huge plays either. They allowed an average of 3.8 YPC and 75 yards.

That’s a step in the right direction, from a total yardage angle. If you give up less than 100 yards on the ground, you’re giving your team an opportunity to win.

It might be great to see the yards per carry average fall to three or less, though. While Tank Johnson saw a fair share of double coverage, he still made an influence with 2 tackles and adds a dose of toughness to this line.

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