Carter says his first responsibility with the green dot is to communicate the offensive personnel to the defense "because that means something." But the most important communication may go on between series.
"You try to correct all the mistakes on the sideline. If a bad play happens on the field, you can't dwell on it. You've got to flush it immediately, because if you don't, then the offensive front is going to dominate you," Carter said. "We just try to take it play-by-play. Each play has a has a life of its own. So just take it play-by-play, give that play the respect that it deserves. If you don't, you'll get exposed, you get to the sideline and correct the mistakes when you see them. I felt we did a good job with that, but we just got to keep getting better with it."
Pro Football Focus had Carter and Knight each leading the team with three missed tackles against the Packers. They weren't alone. The Bengals had 14 misses, which Taylor called, "Not good enough. Too many opportunities there where they got extra yardage."
The two plays Carter wanted back were Love's check-down 29-yard pass to running back Josh Jacobs after he lost sight of Jacobs when he saw Love thinking about running. And, Jacobs' untouched 14-yard run up the middle.
"Me and 44 have to play it better. We definitely were mad about that play, just knowing that that's a play that we've repped in practice before that," Carter said. "It wasn't a new play for us. We definitely just have to be better with our fits and just know where our help is and where our gaps are. We just have to play that better. That's all it is."
The Bengals believe he will, not only because of his talent but because of his approach to the game. Carter watched all of Sunday's 61 plays, and he says the big thing isn't to dwell on mistakes but understand how to fix them, and he's got a plan to eliminate the missed tackles.
"Trust my speed," Carter said. "In this game, if you don't take the right angles, and if you over pursue something, you know the playmakers in this league, they'll make you miss. So I would say just trusting my speed and just taking the right angles when I'm trying to pursue someone."
Good Pass Pro
The Bengals pretty much handled the Packers' feared pass rush compared to other clubs. Flacco got hit, but not as many as others. The Pack hit Jared Goff nine times, Jayden Daniels 12 times, and Flacco ten when he played for the Browns three weeks ago. On Sunday, it was five hits with just one sack. PFF said Flacco was pressured ten times after the Pack pressured him 20 times three weeks ago in Cleveland.
"It gave us a chance to win a game," Taylor said of his protection. "If you'd watched all the third-down tape before our game, it was just a disaster tape. They're hitting quarterbacks on seemingly every play. The conversions had all been on underneath throws where guys just catch and ran for the first downs, and so we factored that into our plan, a little bit.
"It got to a point where we just had to drop back and throw the ball down the field. And I thought our guys held up really well. And Joe did a great job hanging in there as long as he could and giving guys a chance. And those guys at the receiver position came up big for him."