Monday Whispers – We will find out more this week about the player . . .

Not to take anything away from the Jets’ 39-38 win over the Bengals before their bye-week, but did you see that Cincinnati defense in their 47-42 loss to Chicago on Sunday?

It’s shocking how bad they are.

They ran former Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anerumo out of town after Cincinnati’s terrible defensive season in 2024, but the problem has gotten worse in 2025 under first-year coordinator Al Golden, who came over from Notre Dame.

And Anerumo is doing a terrific job as the defensive coordinator of the 7-2 Indianapolis Colts this season.

So clearly the problem wasn’t Anerumo’s fault.

They clearly have some major personnel issues. They did last year, and it continues this year.

Who in the scouting world thought that linebackers Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter were the kind of prospects that should be rookie starters, but both are. Knight was a reach in the second round, and Carter went in the fourth round, which was about right, but who thought he’d start this year? Both players were considered good run defenders in college, and not great in coverage, and you can see how their deficiencies in pass coverage are hurting the Bengals.

Hat-tip to Justin Fields for his bounce-back game against the Bengals, especially after being called out by Jets owner Woody Johnson, but throwing against the Bengals looks like a 7-on-7 practice drill these days.

Bengals first-round pick, defensive end Shamar Stewart, has had very little impact. He’s a tweener, not quick enough to take the edge, but not big enough to be a force inside. He is similar to another Texas A&M defensive end the Jets added, who, like Stewart, is chiseled and plays hard, but has tweener tendencies as well.

Some guys look the part, but it’s hard to find an ideal spot for them.

So Fields will face a much stiffer challenge on Sunday with Cleveland’s defense coming to town.

While the Browns are 2-6, they have one of the NFL’s top defenses, well-coached by Jim Schwartz, and strong on all three levels.

The Bengals are a perfect example of what happens when you spend too much money on one area of your team in a salary cap sport.

They have so much money invested in their quarterback and starting receivers, they had to go cheap on defense, and it’s showing.

Look, QB Joe Burrow is worth the money, but why pay both receivers big bucks and go cheap on defense?

Why not let #2 Tee Higgins go, draft a receiver, and spend the money on defense?

Like the Seattle Seahawks did.

Instead of giving veteran receiver D.K. Metcalf another big contract, they traded him to Pittsburgh, and went with Jackson Smith-Njiba as their new #1 receiver, in the second year of his rookie deal, and they were able to spend the money saved on Metcalf at other positions, especially on defense, and their defense is much improved this year.

The NFL is not fantasy football, and it’s almost like the Bengals viewed it that way, putting so much money into the QB and the two starting WRs.

Once again, no issue with paying the QB, who’s a good one, but don’t spend so much money at receiver that you neglect your defense. Spending too much on receivers can be fool’s gold, especially if it leads to you short-changing the trenches.

And man, is that defense bad.

Thought it was bad against the Jets, but it got worse against the Chicago Bears a week later. Caleb Williams is okay, but let’s not put him in Canton just yet. He has a lot of work to do, but against Cincinnati, he looked like Tom Brady.

November 3, 2025

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