The Cincinnati Bengals’ nightmare season reached a new low Sunday, but it wasn’t just the 47-42 loss to the Chicago Bears that exposed the franchise’s problems.
It was what happened afterward.
In the aftermath of Cincinnati’s sixth loss in seven games — a defeat that saw it blow a 42-41 lead with 54 seconds remaining — multiple starting defenders refused to speak with reporters. Jordan Battle, Shemar Stewart, TJ Slaton, Kris Jenkins, and Myles Murphy all declined postgame interviews, with some players reportedly laughing off media requests, according to Bengals reporter Mike Petraglia.
While offensive stars like Chase Brown and Ja’Marr Chase stood at their lockers expressing frustration with a defense that has become historically bad, the players responsible for that unit’s failures were nowhere to be found.
“The locker room is showing its cracks,” Petraglia wrote on X. “The ones to laugh or decline by saying ‘catch you on Monday’ were Jordan Battle, Shemar Stewart, TJ Slaton. Also declining were Kris Jenkins and Myles Murphy.”
That divide — offensive players willing to face the music while defensive players avoided speaking altogether — tells you everything you need to know about where this Bengals season stands. And that fracture becomes easier to understand when you see just how historically awful Cincinnati’s defense has been.
According to Football Outsiders founder Aaron Schatz, the Bengals now have the second-worst defense by DVOA through nine games since 1978. Only the 1979 San Francisco 49ers were worse. More damningly, Cincinnati has faced one of the easiest schedules, so the strength of its opponents can’t explain away its struggles.
Since the NFL began tracking points per drive in 2000, no defense has been worse through the first nine games of a season than these Bengals. And these Bengals have allowed 500-plus yards in three games this season — accounting for three of the five such performances across the entire league.
They rank dead last in defensive success rate, worst in points per game allowed, second-worst in yards per game allowed, and worst in rushing yards allowed per game at 151.9. And among 800-plus defenses over the last 25 years, the 2025 Bengals rank second-worst in EPA per play, worst in defensive success rate, worst in points per game allowed, and second-worst in yards per game allowed.
In the last 25 years, the Bengals D Ranks (out of 800+ defenses):
-2nd worst EPA/play (08 DET)
-Worst in Def Success Rate
-Worst in PPG
-2nd worst YPG (12 NO)
-4th worst YPPlay (15 NO, 12 NO, 08 DET)
-4th worst YPCarry (25 BUF, 25 NYG, 22 LAC)
Historically. Bad.
— Jake Liscow (@JakeLiscow) November 2, 2025
Sunday’s loss encapsulated it all.
The Bears, playing without their leading rusher D’Andre Swift, rushed for 283 yards. Rookie Kyle Monangai, making his second career start, ran for 176 yards on 26 carries. On the game-winning play, Cincinnati’s secondary missed multiple tackles as Caleb Williams hit Colston Loveland for a 58-yard touchdown with 25 seconds left.
COLSTON LOVELAND ARE YOU KIDDING?
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/OMOzjsl6vC
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) November 2, 2025
And what happened after the game revealed even more about the team’s current state than what happened during it.
When reporters gathered in Cincinnati’s locker room, they found offensive players ready to talk. Brown didn’t sugarcoat his feelings. Chase, while more diplomatic in his formal comments, at least showed up. Joe Flacco, despite throwing for nearly 500 yards on one shoulder, stood at his locker and answered questions.
Meanwhile, the defensive players who gave up 576 total yards and 47 points were conspicuously absent. Some reportedly laughed at interview requests. Others said they’d talk on Monday, as if the historic nature of their unit’s failures could wait for a more convenient time.
The Bengals are 3-6, having lost six of their last seven games despite scoring 80 combined points in their previous two losses. Joe Burrow remains out following toe surgery, with no clear timetable for his return. Even if he comes back healthy, it’s unclear what difference he can make behind a defense that has statistically been the worst in modern NFL history.