Myles Murphy Is Coming Back To A Desperate Situation
Credit: Albert Cesare - Imagn Images
Through four weeks, it’s clear that the Cincinnati Bengals pass rush isn’t just bad. It’s a dumpster fire. That’s not something that they thought they’d have to say in 2024 when they returned Trey Hendrickson for a potential final run in Cincy. But here they are, near the bottom of the NFL in just about any stat that can matter.
In four games, the Bengals have only pressured the quarterback 20 times, per Stathead. Only the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers have had less success getting to the quarterback. Their five sacks are tied for 30th in the NFL. PFF gives Cincinnati’s pass rush a grade of just 53.7, dead last in the league.
We dropped Hendrickson’s name earlier, but he’s arguably the only player doing his part in the pass rush. The star edge rusher, by far, has the highest PFF pass rush grade (73.0), which reflects his 3.0 sacks and eight pressures. While Cincinnati would be even more vulnerable without him, he can’t do it all himself.
As the Bengals are trying to climb out of a 1-3 hole and getting to the AFC North rivalry games, it’s a massive boost to see Myles Murphy getting ready to get back into the lineup. “I felt great, honestly,” the defensive end said after returning to practice this week. “I was telling coaches I felt great doing all the drills, team runs… [I] felt fast, explosive.”
That’s gotta be music to Cincinnati’s ears. A sprained knee kept him out of the first four weeks, but before that, the Bengals were counting on their 2023 first-rounder taking a sophomore leap. Murphy registered just 3.0 sacks (fourth on the team) and six pressures (eighth) last season, but that came in 28% of the defensive snaps for the team. It was a solid performance for a rookie getting his feet wet in the NFL.
Now, it’s time to unleash the 6-foot-5 lineman’s speed and strength on the league. And who can argue Lou Anarumo should stick with the status quo? Veteran Sam Hubbard has been an abject disaster this season. There are 159 edge rushes have PFF grades in 2024. Hubbard’s pass rush grade is 42.8… which puts him at exactly 159th.
This is despite the fact that he has played 74.5% of the defensive snaps, and leads the team with 104 times sent on the pass rush. He has zero sacks and one pressure to show for it. It’s hard to fathom that kind of ineffectiveness.
You can’t say Joesph Ossai has done much better. He’s played much fewer snaps than Hubbard (45.2% overall with 60 pass rush attempts), but also has just one pressure in that time. We can point to the Bengals’ secondary being improved on paper, and it is, but no coverage can withstand a quarterback getting all day to pick them apart.
The Bengals need more, and it’s going to fall on Murphy. He’ll have a big opportunity to show he can give some much-needed juice to the pass rush against Lamar Jackson. If Murphy can’t step up and elevate his team’s play above the status quo, the two-time MVP is more than capable of destroying the Bengals defense on Sunday.
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