BALTIMORE –– In the first six games of the season, the Cincinnati Bengals defense used the same scheme, the same principles and the same approach. As the unit played as well as any defense in the NFL, the Bengals defense found an identity that worked.
And then on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, the Bengals defense scrapped that game plan for a completely different one. The defense changed its base formation, tweaked its approach on third downs and borrowed a few concepts from the Ravens scheme.
It looked like a brand new defense. In a 41-17 win, the Bengals defense had its best game of the year and beat 2019 MVP Lamar Jackson for the first time in Jackson’s four-year NFL career.