The Orange and Black Insider’s Anthony Cosenza and John Sheeran chat with the Bengals’ star defensive end on the outlook of the Bengals.
It’s no secret that the Cincinnati Bengals’ defensive unit was under the microscope after a wildly-unexpected 1-4 start. Leaders began to take things in their own hands with a players-only meeting before the Giants game, which has since seemed to make a difference.
Cincinnati has won three of its last four, including a victory in Cleveland—a milestone that has eluded the Bengals for seven years. Coming off of three productive games in a row, we had the privilege of sitting down with Sam Hubbard of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Hubbard joined us this week, courtesy of Campbell’s Chunky Soup and his efforts at the Cincinnati Freestore Food Bank. Campbell’s Chunky’s “Sacking Hunger” initiative allowed Hubbard the ability to box up 2,000 meals to those in need.
Aside from talking about his amazing charity work, we did talk a little Bengals, too. Many topics were on tap, but it was Hubbard who brought up the increased health on the defensive line as a big difference.
“I think a lot went into it (in terms of the slow start), always throughout the season, you’re going to face a lot of adversity,” Hubbard said. “We started off kind of banged up, especially on the defensive line front. We were down a lot of guys. We’re kind of coming back to full health, full speed.”
Hubbard was referencing the varying issues with BJ Hill, Sheldon Rankins, McKinnley Jackson, Kris Jenkins, Jr., Myles Murphy, and Cam Sample. The latter six missed a few games here and there, while Sample was placed on I.R. in the preseason.
Since the slow return of those initial six listed, the defense has seen vast improvement. While they let up a lot of points to the Ravens, they did have a fumble recovery, a sack, a safety, and a turnover.
“And, we went through a tough period, and we learned a lot about ourselves. We stuck together and put some good games together,” Hubbard told us. “We’ve got a lot of football left, but I think it’s just a combination of getting healthy, learning together how to overcome that adversity, and now it’s about playing ‘complementary football’ as we have some big games coming down the stretch.”
While it looks like the Bengals have a bit of a breather the next two weeks (home for the Eagles and Raiders), no week is a gimme. Hubbard talked about the “one week at a time” mentality, but a rematch against the Ravens follows those, as well as a slew of both conference and division games.
Cincinnati finished with a paltry 1-5 AFC North record last year, which included a waste game at the end of the year against these Browns. This has been a major point of emphasis this offseason for the Bengals in 2024.
If Cincinnati is to make a proper run toward the postseason, it will take more conference and division wins in the weeks ahead. Four more AFC North games await them, with the team comfortably winning one in Cleveland and letting an overtime loss slip away at home versus the Ravens.
Hubbard’s own health and that around him has boosted the defense. They’ve let up 21 points in the past two games—both on the road—with seven of those coming in garbage time this past Sunday. To boot, the last three games have netted seven sacks and four turnovers forced.
The hope is that Lou Anarumo can recreate the magic seen at each level of the defense that elevated Cincinnati to the Super Bowl and AFC Championship game in back-to-back seasons. In 2021, it was the magical combination of DJ Reader, BJ Hill, and Larry Ogunjobi up front, with Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates in the backfield.
This year, it’s more of a “by-committee” approach, but the group is seemingly stepping up with increased health. And, while the team will rely on a big amount of snaps from Hubbard, rotational relief is huge for the comeback road ahead.
