Julio Jones (11) is a load for a defensive back to bring down in the open field. (Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)
CINCINNATI — One week after allowing Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco to pass for 345 yards, the Cincinnati Bengals are bracing for Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, who threw for a franchise-record 448 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-34 overtime win against New Orleans.
It will be worth watching how first-year defensive coordinator Paul Guenther goes after Ryan. The Bengals blitzed Flacco frequently and, despite registering only one sack on the first 86 snaps, successfully.
“The key against Ryan is mixing it up, giving him different looks and coverages, fronts, those kinds of things,” Guenther said. “He gets the ball out, he’s accurate and he gets those guys in and out of good plays. He’s definitely one of the top ones in the league.”
If the Bengals blitz and the Falcons beat it, Ryan doesn’t have to air it out to take advantage. The Falcons have a group of physical and fast receivers, led by Julio Jones, who can exploit a single missed tackle on a short route and cash it in for huge chunks, something they did a lot of against New Orleans with five receivers averaging at least 11 yards per catch.
“The Saints did a horrible job of tackling, like one of the worst tackling games I’ve seen in my life,” Bengals cornerback Adam Jones said. “Since I’ve been here, tackling has been one of the main emphasis of our defense. That and being physical. We’ll come out physical. We’ll tackle.”
After riding a streak of 21 consecutive games without allowing a 300-yard passer, the Bengals have allowed three in the last 11 games — Detroit’s Matthew Stafford (357), Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck (326) and Flacco last week — and yet they’ve won all three games.
But two of those games were on the road. At home, where they own a nine-game home winning streak in the regular season that equals the franchise record, they have shut down the likes of Eli Manning, Tony Romo, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady since 2012.
“We spend a lot of time on third downs, with the routes and the protections,” Guenther said. “We do a lot with that. We really try to get our guys to understand what the plan is on third down, how we’re trying to attack, how we’re trying to cover.”
The good news for Guenther and the defense is they don’t have to dominate to win. Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton threw for 301 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions is his first game with Hue Jackson as offensive coordinator.
The Bengals think they can win if it turns into a shoot out, they just hope the don’t have to prove it.
SERIES HISTORY: 13th regular-season meeting. Bengals lead series, 7-5. The Falcons have won the last three and four of the past six, including a wild 39-32 affaiar four years ago in Atlanta. The Falcons have piled up 29 or more points in four conescutive games against Cincinnati and five the last six. The most historic meeting between the two teams came in the 1981 season finale when the Bengals scored a 30-28 victory in Atlanta to clinch home-field advantage through the playoffs on their way to Super Bowl XVI.
