Bengals Anarumo defends defensive personnel on pivotal play vs. Chiefs

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

CINCINNATI — Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said the stop on fourth-and-16 that ended up negated by a pass interference call is going to haunt Cincinnati for a little while after it seemed the game Sunday at Kansas City was won.

He still reminds his players one play doesn’t break the season.

The Bengals held Patrick Mahomes to 151 yards passing, only gave up 19 points to the Chiefs’ offense and produced three takeaways, and it still wasn’t enough. The 29-yard penalty, called on rookie Daijahn Anthony, pushed Kansas City into field goal range, where Harrison Butker kicked the game-winner as time expired to send Cincinnati home with a 26-25 loss.

Anthony needed some consoling from teammates and coaches afterward. He was going up against Rashee Rice on a high throw Mahomes made after scrambling to find an open receiver.

“It certainly means a lot to him,” Anarumo said. “You know, he’s very emotional in the locker room after the game, and I just grabbed him and came up and said, ‘Hey, you’ll come back and make a huge play for us, or more as the season goes on. So don’t hang your head. You just got nothing to do with one play. That’s not how you win or lose your game.’”

It was a “bang-bang play,” and the fact it was such a high ball factored into how Anthony had to try to defend the pass.

Anarumo also said he would make the call he made on that play “100 out of 100 times.” The Bengals only rushed three, while dropping eight into coverage, because they had lost BJ Hill and Sheldon Rankins to hamstring injuries by the fourth quarter and the already depleted defensive line was looking gassed. Anthony did what he was taught to try to defend the pass.

“We teach our guys to be aggressive and be aggressively smart,” Anarumo said. “We don’t want them being timid and they catch the ball and everybody wants to know why. It was a bang-bang play, and unfortunately it went against us. We had two DTs for the game once the fourth quarter rolled around, so my decisions with three, four or whatever in terms of rushing, we had two guys who were playing every snap. I thought it was best to put fresh legs out there on the most important down and get something out of them as opposed to somebody who was exhausted and can’t rush.”

The Bengals have certain packages designed with Anthony in mind. He showed throughout training camp and preseason he could be a strong defensive back in coverage, as a “deep zone, rangy type guy,” and the situation Sunday on fourth down was a tough one the staff believed he was equipped to handle.

Anarumo said Jordan Battle, who started 10 games at strong safety and is more of an in-the-box defender, will still get opportunities this season, but Anthony was the right guy in that moment. Battle played just one defensive snap Sunday.

“Jordan Battle … is going to have a role at some point for something,” Anarumo said. “Maybe it’s this week. I don’t know. I’m not down on him at all. Those particular six snaps Daijahn got were for him.”

This week, Anarumo will have bigger decisions to make regarding how to manage his defensive line. Bengals coach Zac Taylor didn’t have an update on how Hill and Rankins were doing Monday before an offday Tuesday. The first practice of the game-week takes place Thursday in the build-up to their Week 3 Monday Night Football game against the Washington Commanders.

Taylor said he’s had conversations with the player personnel department about the potential need to look for outside help on the defensive line. Hill and Rankins are just the latest injuries suffered at that position group. Kris Jenkins’ status remains a question coming back from thumb surgery in Week 1, and the Bengals already lost Cam Sample to a season-ending Achilles tendon tear, and rookie defensive tackle McKinnley Jackson and second-year defensive end Myles Murphy are both on injured reserve-return for at least two more weeks.

“That’s something that we’ve gotta talk about and continue to have a plan going forward, which they have,” Taylor said when asked about if another defensive lineman is needed. “We’ve talked about that upstairs. We’ll see where the week takes us.”

Meanwhile, Tee Higgins is continuing to make good progress in his recovery from a hamstring injury that sidelined him the first two games. Taylor said the extra day helps this week to give Higgins more time to recover and potentially get ready, but he wasn’t ready to make any predictions on the player’s status this week.

Things are “trending in a positive direction, though. Higgins worked out before the game Sunday but was inactive.

“I think his attitude is he’s doing everything he can to get back out there,” Taylor said. “Our job will be to manage that, make sure we’re putting him in a good situation before he’s out there and ask too much of him. But I think everything’s moving in a good direction.”

MONDAY’S GAME

Commanders at Bengals, 8:15 p.m., ABC, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7

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