Coming out of a 45-10 bullying session at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs, one thing is clear about the Cincinnati Bengals — they aren’t interested in tackling.

The Bengals missed 18 tackles during the primetime loss by Pro Football Focus’ count, per Fletcher Page of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Not only is that the biggest single-game count of missed tackles ever recorded by PFF, the Bengals have now missed double-digit tackles in five of their seven games.

No excuses work. Yes, reliable tacklers like Nick Vigil, Preston Brown and Darqueze Dennard have missed time with injury at points. Yes, the Bengals have a new defensive coordinator in Teryl Austin. And yes, the players — especially Vontaze Burfict — have to worry about the NFL’s stricter emphasis on player safety that has an offensive-minded slant.

But those are all cheap scapegoats — tackling is about want. The players have to want to bring down opponents. It’s still football, after all.

Until the Bengals show this, the defense will keep dragging down an offense that is losing effectiveness by the week thanks to injuries and poor coaching decisions.

Combined, well, maybe stop thinking about playoffs until the defense can wrap somebody up and bring them down.