SUNDAY’S GAME
Bengals at Steelers, p.m., 700, more consistency in terms of personnel, too, as there has been a lot of moving pieces this season because of injuries to interior linemen like D.J. Reader, Mike Daniels and Geno Atkins — the latter two whom are back.
“It’s always better when you have a D-Line that’s been around each other for a while,” Kareem said. “That bond and knowing where each other will begin the rush and knowing how to cover for each other, that’s definitely key. But it’s really just a next man up mentality. Coach (Nick) Eason always preaches let your energy and effort be contagious, and that’s something we really try to do on this D-Line.”
The Bengals needed to add at least one more defensive end, though, after trading away disgruntled end Carlos Dunlap three weeks ago. It seemed after the trade deadline passed Nov. 3, Cincinnati was just going to have to make do with what it had in the building already, so McKinley’s acquisition was a bit of a surprise, although a welcome one.
The defense ranks 25th in the league with just 11 sacks, and McKinley is a low-risk addition to try to improve those stats as he’s in the final year of his rookie contract. McKinley has been limited by a groin injury this season and hasn’t recorded a sack in four games, but he finishes his time in Atlanta with 17.5 sacks and 45 hits on the quarterback over threeplus seasons.
While the team won’t be able to utilize McKinley right away, players such as Kareem will continue getting more reps. Kareem said he felt like he did OK in the first eight games, getting his feet wet and adjusting to the league, but now he’s got enough experience he’s got higher expectations for himself.
this point Coach (Gerald) Chatman, he’s like, ‘You’re not a rookie anymore,’ ” Kareem said. “He said, ‘You played eight games in your NFL career so you should be good. Your feet should be nice and wet, just go out there and play.’ But what I probably need to work on the most is just being more violent in everything I do, be more violent my pass rushing and when I’m rushing just be more precise with it, don’t really be hesitant and like I said, just be more violent and precise.”
The Bengals have their work cut out for them in preparing for the Steelers’ offensive line and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who is tough to bring down and is getting the ball out of his hands quicker than any other passer in the league. Roethlisberger has been getting his passes off in an average of 2.27 seconds, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.