Watch: ESPN's Dan Orlovsky Breaks Down Bengals' Defense, Believes They're Chiefs Top Challenger

Cincinnati is 7-2 after opening the season 0-2.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Publish date:
Dec 1, 2022 1:28 PM EST

In this story:

CINCINNATI — Lou Anarumo has quickly ascended near the top of the NFL defensive coordinator hierarchy, and ESPN's Dan Orlovsky gave some examples of why on Wednesday.

Check out his tight breakdown of three different plays set up by Anarumo in Cincinnati's 20-16 win against Tennessee. The DC uses a five-man front in all three but blended those fronts with three different coverage strategies to keep Tennessee on its heels.

Cincinnati stifled one of the best red zone offenses in the NFL this past Sunday by channeling chameleon-like tendencies such as these.

Orlovsky stamped his approval even more on Thursday's episode of First Take on ESPN.

"If they keep playing the way they are then absolutely," Orlovsky said about Cincinnati having the best chance of any AFC team to keep the Chiefs out of the Super Bowl.

Orlovsky expounded more after taking some heat from Stephen A. Smith.

"This is my point Stephen A.," Orlovsky continued. "And this is why I need you to listen. We have to go to what it takes, or what it looks like to knock off the Chiefs. What do you need? First of all, you got to handle the Chiefs' 12 personnel, one back, two tight ends. They've become a team that wants to put multiple tight ends on the field. So you got to handle that. Second of all, do you have somebody that can handle Travis Kelce? Not everybody does.

"Third of all, do you have a smart enough defense and play caller Lou Anarumo that can manipulate, can handle the pocket on Patrick Mahomes. Not every team in the AFC is capable of doing that. That's handling the Chiefs' offense. The Bengals are one of those teams that you could say yes to."

Orlovsky referred to the Buffalo Bills' injury questions as a big hang-up for him in this debate.

"I think the Bills and the Dolphins are another team that [can topple KC], and then you gotta on the flip side have receivers that can whip man coverage, one on one on the outside, check for the Bengals. They're doing this all without Ja'Marr Chase, who I expect to come back hopefully in the next week or two and continue to play at a really high level. So if the Bengals and their offensive line continue to play this way ... and Ja'Marr comes back healthy. They're the team that is most built to beat Kansas City.

"I do agree that Buffalo is up there, but I gotta see what's going on with Von Miller, and I gotta see if they can stay healthy with [Jordan] Poyer and I gotta see what's going on with Dion Dawkins, their left tackle. Cincinnati is healthier than Buffalo. That's a huge part of this conversation."

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