Football Outsiders' Aaron Schatz defines a Pass Defeat as a turnover, quarterback sack, tackles behind the line of scrimmage on short passes and tackles or passes defenses that prevents a third-down conversion. And of 383 passing plays against the Cincinnati Bengals defense, 101 were labeled as defeat, translating roughly to 26%.
Comparatively speaking, that's worse than the Pittsburgh Steelers (28%) and the Cleveland Browns (27%) but four points better than the Baltimore Ravens (22%). The Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers sported the best pass defeats percentage per passing plays at 33% while the New England Patriots (22%) came in as the worst.
Turnovers were a big problem with the Bengals in 2010, posting a -8 takeaway-giveaway turnover difference. Cincinnati's defense picked off 16 passes, however Bengals quarterbacks threw 20 interceptions. The Bengals recovered 10 fumbles, however the Bengals also lost 14 fumbles. Comparatively speaking, the Bengals broke even in 2009 with 25 takeaways and 25 giveaways.
Even with Carlos Dunlap's 9.5 quarterback sacks, as a team the Bengals were simply ineffective with the pass rush, posting 27.0 quarterback sacks that ranked 27th in the NFL in 2010.
We're not so much writing off the offense, rather displaying a realistic attitude of a new offensive coordinator, new offensive system, new quarterback, newer wide receivers and a wide receivers coach. The Bengals will have to rely heavily on their defense if they're going to play competitive football in 2011.