When the Cincinnati Bengals lost DJ Reader against the Dolphins with a significant knee injury, it was expected the run defense would take a major hit.

That was more than apparent in the Cincinnati’s Week 6 win over the Saints when the team surrendered 228 yards on the ground.

It was an uncharacteristic performance by defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s group. The Bengals take pride in stopping the run and that performance was unacceptable, according to Anarumo. But when you look further into how it happened and how do they prevent it from happening again, it’s hard to not point to the players the Bengals are going to be without against Atlanta.

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Reader is still not ready to go and won’t be likely until after the bye. His backup, Josh Tupou, injured his calf against the Saints and will be out for a few weeks. Linebacker Logan Wilson suffered a shoulder injury and is day-to-day but has yet to practice this week. His status is unlikely for Sunday at this point.

That’s three players right down the middle of Cincinnati’s defense that won’t play against one of the league’s best rushing attacks. It will be a next man up effort for the Bengals at those positions.

“Listen, they're starters for a reason,” Anarumo said. “The guys that come in behind them, we expect them to raise their game up and to play at a level that allows us to play winning football. And I thought they did yesterday. Again, there were probably three or four plays in the game that cut half their yardage down, but they got them. We expect those guys to step in and play their butts off.”

Who will replace injured Bengals on defense?

At defensive tackle, look for Jay Tufele and Zach Carter to step up and play a significant number of snaps. The Bengals claimed Tufele off waivers after Jacksonville cut the 23-year-old in late August. Tufele, 6-foot-4, 305 pounds, is a former fourth-round pick out of USC in 2021. When Tupou went down against the Saints, Tufele stepped in and logged six tackles.

Carter, a third-round pick by the Bengals, sits behind BJ Hill on the depth chart. Anarumo likes to utilize different fronts and the former Florida Gator will see the most snaps he’s seen yet in his NFL career against the Falcons. He’s played in four games so far this season and recorded six tackles.

Hill will carry the group while Reader is out. That’s why Cincinnati signed him to a three-year extension after the 2021 season to ensure they had someone talented to pair with Reader on the interior of the defensive line.

“I’m very confident in the guys we got,” Hill said. “I know they are going to step up big. We just have to fix the little things and I feel like we did. We’re going to be fine.”

The Bengals are in panic mode following the performance against the Saints. But the margin for error is small, especially up front.

If Wilson is unable to play, look for Akeem Davis-Gaither and Markus Bailey to get more snaps playing alongside Germaine Pratt. Davis-Gaither was a fourth-round pick in 2020 by the Bengals and is looking to build off his promising sophomore campaign. He was unable to finish the 2021 season after nine games due to a foot injury. Heading in this season, Davis-Gaither had played 521 snaps on defense. Bailey was a seventh-round pick in the same draft class as Davis-Gaither. Having backups with experience is extremely beneficial in situations like this.

What’s unique about the Falcons’ rushing offense?

The Falcons have the No. 3 rushing attack in the NFL and what’s unique about their offense is that they’ve had success with several players. They’ll be without their star running back Cordarrelle Patterson as he’s on injured reserve. Atlanta is 3-3 and coming into Sunday’s game with confidence after beating the 49ers 28-14.

Without Patterson, the Falcons will rely on Tyler Allgeier and Caleb Huntley, both of whom rushed for more than 50 yards against the 49ers.

Then you add in the component of what quarterback Marcus Mariota can do on the ground. Mariota isn’t your traditional pocket passer, especially not in this Atlanta offense. He attempted only 14 passes against San Francisco for 129 yards. The Falcons run a heavy RPO (run-pass option) allowing Mariota the freedom to make a decision based off what defense he sees. Mariota has rushed for 206 yards this season.

Fortunately for the Bengals, they’ve faced several mobile quarterbacks so far this season. Mariota is different from Lamar Jackson for sure, but the experience Cincinnati has against him certainly helps in a week like this one.

“There are similarities, for sure,” Anarumo said.  “With Baltimore it is every play you have to be ready for something. A little bit more this year of under the center, normal football. But really Baltimore if they are playing 65 snaps you are expecting 60 of them are going to be some kind of option game. Where with everyone else this past week we were anticipating 14 or 15 snaps of some kind of wildcat. This week it will be a little bit more toward Baltimore. Even some RPOs and things like that. It will be a combination of a bunch of different teams but a little bit more similar to Baltimore.”

If the Bengals can play with a lead on offense and stop the run early on defense, it will force Atlanta out of what they want to do. Specifically on defense, Cincinnati has to be stout on first and second down to unleash their talented pass-rushing duo of Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard. If they can do that, they should be in good shape.

“If we stop the run early and often, you’ll have success,” Hill said. “This week we have to do way better so we can have fun on third down.”