Bengals pass rush dominates in win over Seahawks, fueling turnaround

The Cincinnati Bengals improved to 3-3 on the season Sunday with a 17-13 home victory over the Seattle Seahawks in which the Bengals’ pass rush stole the show.

Cincinnati sacked Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith four times, with Logan Wilson, Sam Hubbard, Trey Hendrickson, and Cam Sample each getting home for a sack.

Per Next Gen Stats, the entire Bengals starting front four of Hubbard, Hendrickson, DJ Reader, and B.J. Hill all recorded six pressures or more, while Sample added three of his own.

Overall this season, the Bengals have gotten home for 19.0 sacks, which ranks sixth most in the NFL and tops among its AFC North rivals.

Hendrickson already has 7.0 sacks on the year, which ranks second in the NFL only behind T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Danielle Hunter of the Minnesota Vikings, who are tied for the league lead with 8.0 sacks each.

The pass rush has helped the Bengals overcome a slow start from its offense and get back to .500 six games into the season.

At 3-3, the Bengals are still in last in the AFC North and are a winless 0-2 in divisional play, but the team sits in a five-team tie (New York Jets, Indianapolis Colts, Las Vegas Raiders, and Houston Texans) a half a game out of the final AFC playoff spot currently held by the 3-2 Cleveland Browns.

There’s plenty of football left, and if the pass rush continues to dominate, the Bengals have a great chance to continue stacking wins.