"In this offseason of sayings and slogans for the Bengals, the defense's is pretty clear – affect the quarterback. In 2009, the defense's 34 sacks were the third most in Marvin Lewis' seven-year tenure, double the amount they had in 2008. However, they were tied for seventh in the AFC and were third in the division. To increase those numbers, Mike Zimmer and the defensive staff are trying a lot of new things with the goal of getting to the quarterback. "It doesn't have to be sacks. It can be getting him to hold the ball longer, pulling the ball down or throwing to the wrong place," Zimmer said. "It might be blitz, pressure or different coverages and looks." The Bengals finished in the Top 10 in total defense and against the run and pass, the first time they have ranked that high in all three in the same season since 1989, but sacks fell off over the second half of the season. There were two reasons for that – defensive end Antwan Odom, who had eight sacks, was lost for the season with an Achilles injury in Week 6 and there wasn't that much of a premium stressed on rushing the quarterback. All of that has changed during the offseason. Since the playoff loss to the Jets, Zimmer and head coach Marvin Lewis have stressed pressuring the quarterback. With all 11 starters back along with some key pickups in the draft and free agency, Zimmer is ready to turn them loose and try new things. "We've got a lot of stuff in right now, maybe too much," Zimmer said. "We're trying to figure out how we can use the guys the best we can. We've got a lot of tools right now and are tying to figure out how we can use them." http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100616/SPT02/306160082/1062/SPT/Bengals-D-will-get-after-QB
