CINCINNATI -- Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther was pleased with what he saw from defensive tackle Geno Atkins against Baltimore.
"[Sunday] was probably his best game so far," Guenther said.
That's it. That's all you need to read here. If his boss is convinced Atkins played his best game, then you should be, too.
OK, seriously. Don't stop reading. Of course you shouldn't just take Guenther at his word. You deserve to see his bold proclamation backed up with some factual evidence, right?
Actually, it might not be that bold of a proclamation. A simple eyeball test of Atkins' performance in Sunday's 27-24 win over the Ravens would reveal that he did indeed play his best game of the season. He was aggressive in pursuit and relentless in pressure as he recorded his best stat line of the season: four tackles, one sack and a forced fumble. Pro Football Focus also credited him with three quarterback hurries. Only Wallace Gilberry and Carlos Dunlap had three or more hurries for the Bengals on Sunday.
Aside from tackles, he had no other statistics next to his name in the first six games.
"He played pretty good in the run game, he had a couple of good pressures," Guenther said. "So he's coming along."
It's anybody's guess as to why the Pro Bowl lineman, who has appeared in each game, has been slow to get going this season. A mostly quiet man who prefers to keep to himself, Atkins doesn't say much in the locker room; not to his fellow linemen, not to other teammates, not to reporters. You'll have better luck getting into Fort Knox than prying an answer out of Atkins about why he has been slow to return to form this season.
Maybe it's mental. Perhaps he's been a little hesitant about bursting through single blockers and double-teams as he starts getting used to the fact that he is now playing on a surgically repaired knee? Or it could all be physical. Maybe until Sunday his body -- legs and lungs -- just had not gotten used to playing with the knee?
Maybe.
It was a year ago this Friday when Atkins tore his ACL while trying to record a tackle during a game at Miami. Days later, he had the knee surgically fixed. By training camp, he was cleared for full participation, although he took his time getting all the way back, going slowly until the regular-season started.
Some eight weeks later, he finally showed flashes of the old Atkins the Bengals have been desperate to see all season.
On average, Atkins is playing 47.1 snaps per game. At 73.6 snaps per game, the Bengals are outpacing the rest of the league in the amount of time their defense is on the field, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
For percentage purposes, Atkins has been part of 64 percent of Cincinnati's defensive snaps. By comparison, throughout his career, Atkins has been on the field for 56.5 percent of the snaps the Bengals have played since 2010. That includes the six games he missed last year, and the time he spent as a reserve as a rookie.
Atkins' 47.1 snaps per game this season are nine plays shy of what the entire Dallas Cowboys defense averaged entering Monday night's game.
The Bengals weren't shy about using Atkins earlier this season, and if he keeps playing like he did Sunday, they shouldn't be from now on.
"He has the quickness and the penetration and the things that Geno does," head coach Marvin Lewis said. "The more opportunity we have to get him into passing situations, the more opportunities of plays he's going to be able to make as a pass-rusher."