Bengals Defensive Leaders Highlight Big Factor in Turning Around Performance This Season

Logan Wilson is a captain this season.

Aug 7, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson (55) in the tunnel against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI —  The Bengals' defense has been getting dumped on all offseason, with Sunday bringing the first real opportunity to flip the script and show steps of improvement under new defensive coordinator Al Golden.

Leaders like Cam Taylor-Britt and Logan Wilson have seen a wide spectrum of Bengals defensive performances in their careers. CTB knows Cincinnati has to start with one key factor to climb from the 25th-ranked scoring unit in the NFL.

Turnovers are top of mind for the Bengals' most-maligned unit as they get ready to take on Cleveland in a road AFC North matchup.

"Hunting the ball, turnovers are our biggest thing," Taylor-Britt told the media at his locker on Monday. "When we get turnovers, we win. We put them in some bad situations. See us turnt up after we make every play, and we having fun out there. So that's what you're gonna see, the difference is how loud we are on defense, talkative. It's not gonna be a quiet night."

Alas, Cincinnati was one of the better teams in the NFL last season at forcing turnovers, but it still didn't have much effect on the final scores.

Cincinnati ranked tied for seventh among all NFL teams with 25 takeaways. All in all, the Bengals' defense had the eighth-fewest expected points added on defense (-101.94).

"I know what we're capable of on defense," Wilson noted. "We've got to get the ball back to our offense as much as we can. We take pride in that throughout practice, focus on the little things, techniques, fundamentals, and I'm just looking forward to finally being able to put it together on Sunday."

Corralling around 30 takeaways over the next 17 games would go a long way towards getting the Bengals back into the playoffs.

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