The Cincinnati Bengals have one primary concern heading into the 2025 NFL season: their defense. Moreover, in their second preseason game against the Washington Commanders, the defensive unit didn’t offer any hope that they could be an average group.
In the only drive that Jayden Daniels had for the Commanders, he didn’t need to make a pass as the Bengals defense couldn’t stop the run with Deebo Samuel Sr. recording a 19-yard run and Chris Rodriguez Jr. registering 41 yards on two rushes in the first quarter.
Moreover, the defense gave up two touchdowns on the Commanders’ first two drives as Cincinnati fell 14-7 despite Joe Burrow and Co. scoring on their opening drive.
Bengals’ defense are a worrying unit
After giving up a second touchdown to the unit that was led by veteran quarterback Josh Johnson, The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. sounded off on the Bengals’ defense as they failed to show any progress and couldn’t stop the run at any point in the first quarter against Washington.
“There is zero reason to have confidence about the state of this Bengals defense and that won’t be changing between now and Cleveland,” Dehner Jr. wrote on X.
There is ZERO reason to have confidence about the state of this Bengals defense and that won’t be changing between now and Cleveland.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) August 19, 2025
While it’s easy to say that the Bengals must pay their star pass rusher, Trey Hendrickson, the veteran can’t be everywhere and help stop the run. Perhaps Hendrickson can be disruptive and affect how the opposition runs the ball, but the holes that the Commanders’ offense generated can’t be all stopped by Hendrickson.
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Nonetheless, Hendrickson does hold more leverage through these first two preseason games as Cincinnati offers no positive signs heading into their Week 1 game against the Cleveland Browns.
If the Bengals cannot extend Hendrickson and get him ready for the opening game of the regular season, then Cincinnati should expect a shootout against the Browns, which wouldn’t be ideal.
