The Bengals defense was bad last year… Really bad. 29th against the run, dead last against the pass, and dead last in total defense says it all. The good news is that unit has no direction to go but up. The bad news is with the only new faces being B.W. Webb, possibly a veteran linebacker, and maybe one or two impact rookies from the draft, first year head coach Zac Taylor and first year defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo have an uphill battle to even create a top 20 defense in their first year.
However, the Bengals can do a few things to help offset their defensive deficiencies.