The Cincinnati Bengals pulled off another close victory in Week 8. Cincinnati defeated Tennessee 43-36 in an overtime thriller that many fans expected would actually be a blowout. The Titans had seemingly thrown in the towel after trading Jeffery Simmons on October 29th. Instead, they gave the Bengals everything they could handle for more than a full 60 minutes.
On one hand, it was great to see Joe Burrow and the offense lead the way. After all, the Bengals are at their best when Burrow is hurling passes to Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. However, the fact that their defense gave up 36 points to an ailing Titans offense should be incredibly concerning for fans. The Titans put up 440 total yards on the Bengals despite lacking elite talent on the offensive side of the ball.
Should Bengals fans be concerned about this middling performance? And what can the Bengals do to right the ship before a potential playoff run?
This is why the Bengals need to make a splash at the trade deadline to boost their struggling defense.
Tennessee revealed that Cincinnati's secondary is not good enough
The Titans showed that the recipe for beating the Bengals is picking on their weak secondary.
Cincinnati invested a lot of resources into fixing the front four this offseason. By and large that seems to have worked, especially with Dexter Lawrence causing chaos on the interior. But once you move past the front four, the Bengals' defense looks a lot shakier.
The Bengals have allowed 237.7 passing yards per game this season. That is one of the worst rates in the league, and it got worse against Tennessee. Cam Ward threw for 304 passing yards and two touchdowns against Cincinnati in Week 8.
In fairness, Cincinnati has not been amazing at stopping the run either. They have been close to league average in that department, which itself was skewed by Tony Pollard ripping off a few big runs on Sunday.
Ultimately, when zooming out and looking at the full picture, it is clear that pass coverage is the problem Cincinnati needs to solve. The Bengals can compensate for giving up some big runs because they have an offense that can put up points in just seconds. But their inability to slow down elite passers could really come back to bite them in the playoffs.
Who should the Bengals target at the deadline to upgrade their defense?
If there's one place the Bengals need to upgrade at the deadline, it is definitely the cornerback position.
Cincinnati is currently rolling with Tacario Davis, DJ Turner II, and Dax Hill as their primary starters with DJ Ivey and Josh Newton as their main reserves. There are a few solid players in that mix, but not enough talent to go toe-to-toe with elite NFL offenses. Unfortunately, the Bengals missed their chance to get a legit CB1 when the Cowboys acquired Joey Porter Jr. from the Steelers. However, there are still a few useful pieces out there who could be available at the deadline.
Article Continues BelowThe best place to start is Donte Jackson. He is on the final year of his current contract and should be a player the Chargers are willing to part with. That is, assuming they are comfortable becoming sellers after starting 0-7.
Jackson enjoyed a productive career in Carolina before heading to Pittsburgh then LA. He may not be a CB1, but the Bengals could benefit from a player of his caliber. Jackson is currently dealing with a hamstring injury, so Cincinnati will need to feel confident in his health before making this move. The good news is that he was only questionable for Week 8 and was a limited participant at practice before that game.
Another option could be Kristian Fulton. At one point, it looked like he would be a big player for Kansas City. But the emergence of Nohl Williams alongside the additions of Mansoor Delane and L'Jarius Sneed took him out of the equation. He could be a plug-and-play option for the Bengals right away. The biggest problem is that the Chiefs just put Sneed on injured reserve, which increases their need for Fulton.
Finally, there's Alontae Taylor. It certainly seems that Taylor is not an ideal fit in Robert Saleh's defensive scheme. In fact, Tennessee wants to move Taylor to slot cornerback after primarily playing on the perimeter up until this point. Perhaps Taylor would welcome an opportunity to stay on the boundary with a contending team like the Bengals.
The Titans just traded Simmons, so it seems like pretty much everyone should be available. That makes him the most promising name on this list.