Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden walks the field in the first quarter of the NFL International Week 9 game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Cincinnati Bengals at Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. The Bengals won the international matchup, 34-17.
Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden walks the field in the first quarter of the NFL International Week 9 game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Cincinnati Bengals at Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. The Bengals won the international matchup, 34-17. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
With the NFL trade deadline imminent, the Cincinnati Bengals and their defense have three distinct choices. Option 1: Trust the guys you have in the locker room to execute what you've been doing, which has yielded wildly mixed results.
Option 2: Trade for somebody to provide a spark or an upgrade or something. Maybe then defensive coordinator Al Golden could feel more comfortable dialing up more exotic plays.
I'm open to the Bengals adding ANYTHING on defense other than another DT.
They could use a S, Slot CB, LB and DE.
— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) November 8, 2026
Or, here's Door No. 3 and brace yourselves because it's outlandish: Tweak your system to play to your players' strengths! I think this is the most realistic path to unlocking another level of this defense.
This applies to one player in particular who's been under fire ever since he entered the NFL last season.
The difference between Demetrius Knight Jr. busting and thriving may lie in Golden's aggressiveness
Look y'all. The grace period for Demetrius Knight Jr. is officially over. We're halfway through Year 2. I labeled him one of the two losers from an otherwise phenomenal Bengals win over the Falcons in Madrid because he missed three tackles.
I couldn't see this collision live at the game but Drake London absolutely annihilated Knight, who fit the run so badly on the play that I could nary believe it was a professional linebacker out there.
So just to recap: D-Knight. Second-round pick. Aged 26 before Year 2. Inconsistent/boom or bust at best against the run. Not good in pass coverage at all. Good athlete for the position, not great.
What's to like? Beat man Charlie Goldsmith got us with this insightful statistical nugget:
When Demetrius Knight blitzes this year, quarterbacks are 11-for-23 (47% completion percentage) with just one completion of longer than 20 yards and also one sack.
— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) November 9, 2026
Sorry for the lengthy buildup there but suffice it to say, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores is a relentless blitzer. He often deploys double mug looks before the snap, which just means both inside linebackers are aligned in the A-gap.
This puts pressure on the protection unit because you never know where pressure is coming from. Flores loves to bail out to nontraditional Tampa Cover 2 structures. Well, at least he did until he started going nuclear in 2026 and sending an extra rusher or more on almost every single snap.
Pro Football Reference puts Flores' Vikings with a league-lapping 69.1% blitz rate. Cincinnati is fourth-lowest in that category at 17.4%.
One could argue that Golden is playing to his strengths by often just rushing four down linemen. That's fine to a degree since Dexter Lawrence, Boye Mafe and Jonathan Allen can be so disruptive. It's just...the thing is, Demetrius Knight Jr. and the scouting department that drafted him could really use a win.
...And it'd be nice not to have a total liability at the second level of the defense, which Knight largely is. Hence the relentless questions about the linebacker position in Cincinnati and the baffled reaction across Who Dey Nation as to why the team defiantly didn't upgrade that spot from last year.
Should the Bengals hunt up a Flores assistant in 2027 if Golden can't hack it?
It's clear Knight excels as a blitzer. He played on the edge a fair amount as a rookie, too. So why not just deploy him like the Vikings have done with Ivan Pace Jr. over the years? No shame in that!
Because I'm tired of pretending that Knight has some imagined upside to tap into. The guy's ceiling is pretty much here. Remember his age. Understand that he played six years of college ball and only had one productive season at a big-time program at South Carolina in 2024.
I'm sorry but the Bengals can do better. Maybe even at d-coordinator with someone like, I don't know, Vikings defensive run game coordinator Ryan Nielsen. After all, Cincy still allows five yards per carry this year.
Until the Bengals come to their senses on either of those fronts, though, Knight will be a starter and Golden will own the call sheet. And the more often Golden can send Knight as a blitzer, which is his clearest strength, the more exotic he can get with his schemes, and the better off the defense will be as the season goes on.
Come on, Al. Live a little. BRING THE HEAT. And yeah, do it on Sunday night against quadragenarian Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Per Next Gen Stats, Rodgers had an average of 3.19 seconds to throw in Pittsburgh's Week 3 win over the Bengals and only got sacked twice. Might be time to mix it up a bit, Al, and you know, put Knight in a better position to succeed. Not a lot of things in his wheelhouse, all due respect because playing linebacker in the NFL sounds like zero fun sir.
Fans are speaking, however...and I'm inclined to agree with them.
This defense is certainly something. They’ve been finishing games but you can tell they’re still another piece or two away from being complete.
Never a better time in franchise history to make a move.
— John Sheeran (@John__Sheeran) November 8, 2026
The Bengals defense is not playing like a Super Bowl contender. The back seven are far from being "good enough".
— AndreBengals (@AndreBengals) November 9, 2026