On a cold, cloudy December afternoon in Cincinnati, the Colts managed just one touchdown on offense against Lou Anarumo's Bengals defense. This was Week 14 of the 2023 season; the Colts' eight points on offense (one touchdown and a two-point conversion) were a season-low in Shane Steichen's first year as head coach.
A little over a year later, when Steichen set out to find his next defensive coordinator, that game – a 34-14 Bengals win – was stuck in his head.
"When I was going through that (hiring) process, I was looking at schematically what teams do, what has given myself – that I've been where I've been – fits," Steichen said. "And he's one of those guys that I got a lot of respect for. He's multiple in the back end, tight coverage, press man stuff, which will be good for us, a good switch up for us. Excited to have him on our staff."
The other time a Steichen offense faced an Anarumo defense, the Los Angeles Chargers – with Steichen as offensive coordinator – managed one touchdown and three field goals in a 16-13 Week 1 win over the Bengals in 2020.
Why Steichen hired Anarumo goes beyond two games, of course.
"Just going through the interview process and being with him the last couple weeks, he's got great energy about him, and I think he'll be able to really connect with our players and use our players' strengths," Steichen said. "I really do, and I think he did a hell of a job with that in Cincinnati. And going through and looking at his game plans, the biggest thing that I've seen over the years, he's always got a plan to take their best player away. And so you go into these big games, or whenever it may be, they'll have a plan to win the game for that."
Notably, in that 2020 Chargers-Bengals game, Anarumo's defense held wide receiver Keenan Allen – who was in the midst of making the Pro Bowl in five consecutive seasons – to four catches for 37 yards. In 2023, the Bengals held running back Zack Moss – who entered Week 14 with 721 rushing yards, 11th in the NFL – to 28 yards on 13 carries (Jonathan Taylor was out with an injury).
"I think he does a good job of disguising things from a coverage standpoint, from a back end standpoint, when and where and how he brings his pressures. If you look at his history in the past six years as the coordinator in Cincinnati, obviously two AFC South championship games, been to a Super Bowl, he's done a lot of really good things."
While with the Bengals, Anarumo varied what coverages he played often on a game-to-game basis. He played a healthy mix of man and zone coverages; he'd deploy two-high shells to take away explosive passes downfield or pivot to single-high looks when the situation called for it. How Anarumo coaches those coverages, general manager Chris Ballard said, should fit a secondary that features an established veteran and some young players who showed promise in 2024.
"I thought (Nick) Cross has really come on, I think he's ascending," Ballard said. "I think (Jaylon) Jones can be a really good player. Kenny Moore (II) is Kenny Moore (II). We've got to add some in the back end, without question. Whether it's a vet, whether it's draft, whatever it is. I do have a lot of faith that whoever it is, these guys will get the best out of them."
How Anarumo plays coverages will be different than what the Colts did under former defensive coordinator Gus Bradley – who Ballard emphasized "is a really freaking good coach." Anarumo, too, has a history of blitzing more than Bradley, whose Colts defenses blitzed at the lowest rate in the NFL from 2022-2024.
"It's probably going to be a little more multiple, a little more aggressive, you know, from a pressure standpoint," Ballard said. "That would probably be the biggest difference you'll see."
