The Cincinnati Bengals may be only a 2-7 football team, but they are still doing good things on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Their pass defense, in particular, has been playing some excellent football of late.
As Evan Silva (Rotoworld, Pro Football Talk) pointed out yesterday, Cincinnati's pass defense - led by the outstanding cornerback tandem of Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph - have shut down Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning in consecutive weeks. The two elite quarterbacks combined to throw for 348 yards, one touchdown and one interception in those two contests. The Bengals have the NFL's 13th-best pass defense, and the 15th-best defense overall.
Clearly, things won't be easy for Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Buffalo Bills' passing attack this Sunday, even with Fitzpatrick on something of a roll. But the news isn't all bad for Buffalo.
Cincinnati has, however, surrendered at least 22 points to opponents in each of its last six games, all of them losses. On average, opponents have scored 26.3 points per game in those contests. For comparison's sake, Buffalo's defense is also giving up 26.3 points per game in their last six contests - which includes horrid performances against New York, Jacksonville and Baltimore.
What has killed Cincinnati more than anything? Certainly not their defense; in reality, it's turnovers. While they're forcing a few themselves (10 in that 0-6 run), they're giving it right back, turning it over 15 times in those contests. By comparison, the Bills have turned the ball over 11 times in their last six games.