Bengals’ Dunlap draws praise, but Cincy D-line dumped upon; Steelers fan suspected

Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap draws a bead on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in a game last season at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap draws a bead on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in a game last season at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Sports
By Matt Winkeljohn
July 13, 2017
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These count as strange times, because when you stumble upon something in the digital universe touting Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap as one of the NFL’s best and you know that tackle Geno Atkins ranks highly and that linebackers Vontaze Burfict and Vincent Rey are darned good, why would the same organization suggest that Cincinnati’s front seven is only 23rd best in the league?

First, there was this from Pro Football Focus on Thursday afternoon:

Dunlap last season had eight sacks and a career-high 15 pass breakups, while Atkins led all NFL defensive tackles with 9.5 sacks. Dunlap has 37 sacks in the past four seasons.

Burfict's season was shortened a tad by suspension, but he put up numbers that pro-rated with the best of his career. Rey was recently tabbed by PFF as one of the league's top linebackers in defending the pass.

So why this crummy ranking later in the afternoon for the group as a whole?

Somebody at Pro Football Focus must be a Steelers fan, and they obviously had their hands on the keyboard Thursday. The silly comments within the story linked just above can’t possibly explain this miscarriage of analysis.

This ranking is a joke, right?

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Matt Winkeljohn