If there's one aspect of our game that I demand that remains at a high level, irrespective of our opponent, it's our special teams play. Not necessarily just on the performance of the kicker or punter, but ST coverage.
We've given up a LOT to field players who play both their position and special teams. There's a lot of puffery from McCarthy and/or Thompson on how certain players (read: Sutton, Smith, Martin) who were cut because another player, perhaps less skilled at their position, were retained because they could play special teams and how hard the decision was.
Teams shouldn't be running the ball back on us the way the Bengals did. If we're sacrificing the offense and defense for improved ST play and getting burned the way we are, then we need to question if whether it was a good idea.