Why Jordan Battle's bounce-back game vs. Dolphins mattered to Bengals

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. − The week of the Miami Dolphins game saw Cincinnati Bengals safety Jordan Battle on the wrong side of headlines in the news cycle.

Then, the game Oct. 11 at Hard Rock Stadium started. Battle had two interceptions in the second quarter. In the third quarter and with the Dolphins 1 yard away from Cincinnati’s end zone, Battle broke into the backfield and tackled the Dolphins rusher for a loss.

The drive later ended in only a field goal for Miami. It was a moment in the second half when the Bengals hadn’t secured the outcome.

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It wasn’t a perfect day for Battle, but it turned the news cycle back in his favor after emerging from the Oct. 4 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars as a primary target for criticism. Battle also drew criticism midweek for publicly discussing a telling habit of Miami quarterback Malik Willis, saying: “He has a … slight little tap before every throw, though, so I feel like we could use that as a key to break on the ball.”

After the Bengals beat the Dolphins 31-24 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated, Battle said he didn’t notice if Willis revealed himself via the tap, but that wasn’t a primary concern after helping his team improve to 3-2 ahead of a Week 6 bye.

“Just wanted to come out and do what’s best for me and my team,” Battle said. “I went into the week knowing what I needed to improve on. I think I told you guys, I’ve got to shoot lower and aggressively wrap. I think I did a better job. Still improvements to make.”

Battle’s improved tackling technique came after he whiffed on a tackle against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who went on to score on the drive. Defensive coordinator Al Golden said the Bengals were supposed to have more tacklers around the ball carrier and that Battle was receiving an unfair amount of blame, but the outcome of the play was still a missed tackle.

Battle’s unit did enough to beat the Dolphins, who entered as the NFL’s worst offense by some measures, including points per game. The Dolphins ended up with a competitive output offensively (331 total yards), and Cincinnati didn’t secure victory until Miami’s onside-kick attempt went out of bounds with less than 50 seconds to play.

If Battle intends to stay on the right side of the headlines, the team will need to finish off games in a stronger manner than it did at Hard Rock Stadium.

Cincinnati’s next game is Oct. 25 against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium, and they feature a quarterback in Lamar Jackson, who possesses a similar-but-stronger skillset than Willis.

“We still need to finish better, and obviously that’s something that’s going to get better going through the weeks,” Battle said. “We know what we’ve got to do, and we know what we’ve got to improve on. Just watch the film.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why Jordan Battle’s bounce-back game vs. Dolphins mattered to Bengals