After a day of thanksgiving and enjoying a caloric slaughter of magnificent proportions, it's time to refocus and get locked in for a trip to the Queen City, where Joe Burrow and a high-octane offense await the Steelers.
Most of the attention, and rightly so, has been on the Bengals' offense, but there's a meat-eater on that Bengals defense that truly fulfills our focus on this week's Classic Jurassic Meat-Eater Matchup.
Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson has been featured here before, and he continues to excel in the trenches. He is unquestionably the most dangerous defensive player on the Bengals.
Standing 6-foot-4, and weighing in at 270 pounds, Hendrickson, in his 8th year, already has 11.5 QB pelts nailed to his sack wall. Hendrickson had added 24 quarterback hits and 12 tackles so far in 2024.
Hendrickson has posted 71 career sacks, so he's no one-hit pass-rush wonder. As with sacks and pass rushing, he's also dynamic against the run and is credited with 64 career tackles for loss, as well. He's a legitimate quarterback hunter who excels against the run or pass.
When Hendrickson lines up against the run, you will see a low pad level with an excellent first step. He's very good at "phone-booth fighting," using his hands on the inside to establish control and position. He's got an explosive punch to neutralize a forward charge by an offensive lineman.
Equally capable of setting an edge or ramming to the inside with a quick first step, he can cause a variety of problems. The ability to mitigate his get-off by using cadence as a weapon might be somewhat offset by a loud hometown crowd — unless Steelers Nation shows up.
Hendrickson displays unusual power when he rushes from the edge. With his long arms, he's able to create a leverage advantage by stabbing with one or two arms and engaging his lower body in a four-wheel drive with a violent forward lean, much like Cam Heyward does with his one-arm stab power rushes.
But then, just when you set to take on that bull rush, Hendrickson will scorch-earth you with a speed rush and the ability to slap a tight arc (if he gets the outside arm) around the backside. It's a violent one-two punch that sets his pass rush foundation that has punched out the near dozen QB sacks.
Much like a good baseball pitcher, who will attack you with a fastball, changeup and curve, so too will Hendrickson attack Steelers LT Dan Moore with a bull rush, speed rush to the arc and then a speed-to-power rush with a tight uppercut.
While the Bengals give up a lot of points defensively, the danger and the main emphasis of the battle, will be, as usual, in the trenches. And the meat-eater du jour, Trey Hendrickson, is a guy who if he's not accounted for on every play, is capable of delivering an afternoon of pain.
