National Football League

Bengals defense all of a sudden out of sorts

Published Oct. 13, 2014 8:54 p.m. ET

foxsports

CINCINNATI -- Through the first three games of the season, the Bengals were a perfect 3-0 and led the NFL with just 33 points allowed. They've given up more than that total in each of the past two games, a 43-17 loss at New England and Sunday's 37-37 tie with Carolina.

It's a sharp about-face for a team that has been predicated on its defense the past few seasons. The Bengals have allowed an average of less than 20 points a game over the past three seasons, but now have allowed more than 30 points in consecutive games for the first time since the 2008 season, when former defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer was in his first season with the team.

New England gained 505 yards against the Bengals last week as Tom Brady turned back into Tom Brady and the Patriots running game produced 220 yards. On Sunday, Cam Newton turned back into SEC Cam Newton as he completed 29 of 46 passes for 284 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while rushing for 107 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. The Panthers started the game minus their top two running backs, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, and lost Fozzy Whittaker during the contest.

Newton ran a lot of read option plays and kept the ball instead of handing off to Darrin Reaves, who finished with eight carries for 15 yards. Newton had just two carries for 6 yards in the first half but had 11 carries for 70 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime.

"That was his read and we've got to correct some things on defense," Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap said after the game. "We weren't as sound as we have typically been the last two weeks. We've got a lot of corrections we've got to make and we're going to make them."

The problems haven't been in just one position group. They've all had their struggles.

"Everyone practiced pretty good but when we got in the heat of the moment, one guy's got the (quarterback) and the other's got the pitch. Stay on your guy," cornerback Adam Jones said. "Even in coverage, we messed up in a couple of coverages."

In the past two games, New England and Carolina have combined to score on 15 of 22 possessions, including eight touchdowns. The Bengals have forced just four punts (and only one three-and-out series) after forcing 14 punts in the first three games. The Bengals have allowed first-down conversions on 17 of 36 third- and fourth-down attempts the past two games.

"I think we allowed three third-down conversions through penalty," head coach Marvin Lewis said about the Carolina game. "Those are huge plays in the game, things that are all self-inflicted, and things that we're going to have to work hard at correcting. We really have to go back and just do our jobs on defense. We're trying to do too much, and guys need to relax and do their thing, and keep doing your job consistently play after play after play."

Linebacker Vontaze Burfict returned to the lineup against Carolina after missing the previous three games as he went through the NFL concussion protocol. Burfict was credited with 10 tackles but also was called for three penalties, including two personal fouls, and all three penalties gave the Panthers a first down.

"We knew that he was going to be so excited to be out there playing, and my point is just relax and play one snap at a time, and make sure you're getting your job done all the time the right way," Lewis said. "He made some plays, quite a few plays, but he had some plays where he didn't play it the way he was supposed to play it.

"We knew that was going to occur. We tried to caution him all week about it, particularly at the end of the week, to relax and play. There's 10 other guys out there, and you just do their job, and they'll do theirs, and we'll be fine."

Last season the defense mixed-and-matched all season as it dealt with injury after injury. It has been playing without tackle Brandon Thompson and Burfict but has been a healthier group this season. At least until Sunday when linebackers Rey Maualuga (hamstring) and Emmanuel Lamur (shoulder) left the game; they could be out for some time.

The Bengals lead the league with an opponent's passer rating of 71.4 but have had trouble getting pressure on the quarterback with just seven sacks. With Andrew Luck and Indianapolis up next, that's an area of concern.

"(Get) back to fundamentals of things, no matter what it is," Lewis said. "Make sure we're dotting our I's and crossing our T's through everything and, like I said earlier, just do our jobs."