Bengals Secondary Looking Thin Heading into Sunday

Sep 22, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Leon Hall (29) celebrates after intercepting a pass during the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

The Cincinnati Bengals boast a tough defense, especially along the defensive line, which is among the best in the league, but their secondary will be incredibly thin this week.  All indications are they will be without corners Leon Hall and Dre Kirkpatrick as well as safety Reggie Nelson.  Hall and Nelson are their most important players in the secondary and Kirkpatrick was drafted to be the third, which has had a lot of issues with injuries.

The Bengals will be trying to defend the Browns weapons with a secondary comprised of Terrence Newman, who has had a nice second act his career in the Queen City along with a combination of Adam “Pacman” Jones and Brandon Ghee at corner.  At safety, they have George Iloka as their free safety and a choice of whether to play Shawn Williams, their third round rookie or the newly signed Chris Crocker, who has substantial experience in their system and could play immediately, provided he is in shape.

It is going to be incredibly difficult for Newman to cover Josh Gordon and they may be forced to give him safety help if Gordon gets off to a similar start as he did last week.  If they are forced to double him, that will make it more difficult to contain Jordan Cameron and give openings for Davone Bess and Greg Little.  If the Browns are going to win this game, they have to take advantage of the injuries there.