How did the Bengals do it?

[Dopey]

10 hours ago, HappyDays said:

Edmunds was taken advantage of in our game. It was a repeat of last year's AFCCG. Logan Wilson for the Bengals isn't flashy but he doesn't get manipulated that easily.

 

That and the Bengals have a better front 4, which is really sad considering how much investment we've put into ours. All they did was sign Hendrickson and Reader in free agency.

Edmunds is not the reason we lost. We know you don't like him, but wasn't it Milano who got Mossed for the winning TD? Milano didn't have a good game out there. 

[Greg S]

I am rooting the Bengals in the Super Bowl. They deserve it going on the road at TEN and KC in back to back weeks. LA is a joke of a football market. All year long for Rams and Chargers games the visiting team had a strong presence. Yesterday it seemed like the crowd was split 50-50. It has to frustrate the Rams who have a good team but don't get great support. But its LA and the NFL knows LA will bring in $$$$$ so I get it.

[Donuts and Doritos]

Mahomes wasn't as good as he was in our game. Vinci's D played better overall than we did. But I thought our Offense had an easier time & performed better. Most importantly Cinci didn't make the mistakes in crucial moments like we did, it was KC that made those mistakes instead. 

[Greg S]

Just now, Donuts and Doritos said:

Mahomes wasn't as good as he was in our game. Vinci's D played better overall than we did. But I thought our Offense had an easier time & performed better. Most importantly Cinci didn't make the mistakes in crucial moments like we did, it was KC that made those mistakes instead. 

 

Should have kicked the FG before half. The Bengals got a lot of momentum from that stop.

[Jim Bob]

https://twitter.com/NextGenStats/status/1487934888665776130

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by Jim Bob

[teef]

kc just blew it?

[PromoTheRobot]

10 hours ago, billsfanmiamioh said:

Mahomes got the yips

 

He absolutely fudged his undies. I don't think the Bengals did anything different. I think the Chiefs stopped playing. That goal line dud at the end of the half was as big a coaching choke as over ever seen.

10 hours ago, Heitz said:

 

About those adjustments everyone keeps talking about:

 

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/01/30/patrick-mahomes-you-cant-go-up-21-3-and-lose-thats-on-me/

 

 

Their guys just started getting home.  Ours, well, did not...

 

I didn't think Cinci did anything different in the 2nd half.

[PromoTheRobot]

10 hours ago, BuffaloBillsGospel said:

Spot on, adjustments at halftime were key. I also never understand this not only with Frazier but with Daboll. It's almost like they say stick to the game plan to death do us part, I wish we had a guy that can change things up when things aren't going right.

Adjustments that didn't happen.

10 hours ago, HomeskillitMoorman said:

 

This is truth. If you watched that game, you could see the Bengals coaches were prepared and calm, and even enjoying those big moments. McDeerInTheHeadlights is lost when things get real. 

Ding ding ding. Deer in Headlights reference!

10 hours ago, HomeskillitMoorman said:

 

Yup, that's what we're stuck with for now. 

 

I just wonder what the people who say he's still learning the job think of a guy like Zac Taylor that doesn't need over 5 years of head coaching experience to understand how to make quality in-game decisions. 

Will you still feel this way if the Bengals get smoked by the Rams, or will he have gotten a deer in the headlights look too?

[Niagara Dude]

6 hours ago, Toyo321 said:

Until out linebackers are both replaced we will never be able to put the pressure needed on the QB in critical games.  Our lack of LB play and pressure has been a detriment to this team for 4 years.

Exactly,  neither guy is a big game difference maker.  They are asked to keep everything in front of them and make the tackle,  Milano was never going anywhere because no team was going to offer him big bucks.  Not sure what they do with Edmunds this season?  I am thinking because he is still very young the Bills could maybe package him along with their second rounder to grab another first rounder. I think the game yesterday showed Beane that his defence is just not good enough and is missing those difference maker play makers.

[Nester]

Cinci d stepped up. Ours rolled over.

 

really looking forward to a change at DC.

[thenorthremembers]

46 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Stop what? I think they're very similar style of QB. 

I guess my issue is I keep hearing Joe Burrow reminds people of Tom Brady, the guy who won 7 Super Bowls and is the GOAT.   So what about him reminds you of Brady?  No one says that part.   To compare a second year Quarterback, who has elite skill position talent around him, to literally the Greatest Quarterback of all time is hyperbolic to me.  Just wondering what about the guy is Bradyesque?

 

What I saw yesterday was a guy who arguably isnt a top QB in the league yet, play a pretty average football game and get very lucky Mahomes upchucked all over himself.   I fully expect the Bengals to get their heads caved in on the 13th.

Edited January 31, 2022 by thenorthremembers

[Solomon Grundy]

18 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

He absolutely fudged his undies. I don't think the Bengals did anything different. I think the Chiefs stopped playing. That goal line dud at the end of the half was as big a coaching choke as over ever seen.

 

I didn't think Cinci did anything different in the 2nd half.

GetUp is showing this morning that they definitely did things differently in 2nd half. Cincinnati stopped playing zone coverage, went man to man, rushed 3 dropped 8 and sent 4th rusher late

[PromoTheRobot]

1 minute ago, Solomon Grundy said:

GetUp is showing this morning that they definitely did things differently in 2nd half. Cincinnati stopped playing zone coverage, went man to man, rushed 3 dropped 8 and sent 4th rusher late

 

Explain to me how the Bengals managed to get KC to come away with nothing at the end of the 1st half. Was that a Jedi mind trick? Chiefs were mentally packing their bags for Los Angeles once up 21-3.

[thenorthremembers]

34 minutes ago, Dopey said:

Edmunds is not the reason we lost. We know you don't like him, but wasn't it Milano who got Mossed for the winning TD? Milano didn't have a good game out there. 

Which makes you wonder why the defensive staff had more confidence in their 6'0 tall Linebacker to cover Kelce than they did their 6'5 linebacker who is almost identical in size to the tight end. 

[Solomon Grundy]

13 minutes ago, Niagara Dude said:

Exactly,  neither guy is a big game difference maker.  They are asked to keep everything in front of them and make the tackle,  Milano was never going anywhere because no team was going to offer him big bucks.  Not sure what they do with Edmunds this season?  I am thinking because he is still very young the Bills could maybe package him along with their second rounder to grab another first rounder. I think the game yesterday showed Beane that his defence is just not good enough and is missing those difference maker play makers.

They showed Bengals rushed Hendrickson and Hubbard, two of their younger D linemen chasing Mahomes around. I wonder if things would’ve been different had the Bills sent Obada and Epenesa chasing the rat

5 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

Explain to me how the Bengals managed to get KC to come away with nothing at the end of the 1st half. Was that a Jedi mind trick? Chiefs were mentally packing their bags for Los Angeles once up 21-3.

That was the Chiefs feeling themselves. There were definitely adjustments made in the 2nd half though regardless of what the Rat said

Edited January 31, 2022 by Solomon Grundy

[Boatdrinks]

7 minutes ago, Solomon Grundy said:

GetUp is showing this morning that they definitely did things differently in 2nd half. Cincinnati stopped playing zone coverage, went man to man, rushed 3 dropped 8 and sent 4th rusher late

Bills would have been crazy to play man vs Chiefs with Wallace and Jackson. Our game was about the 13 seconds. What transpired lost a game that was a win 99 times out of 100.

[zow2]

Cinci hung on to beat Vegas, The beat #1 Tenn at their house despite 9 sacks against,  and they played unbelievable 2nd half defense to win at KC.  There's zero chance Buffalo could have made Mahomes that uncomfortable, so props to Cincinnati.

If they can go in to LA and win another game on the Rams home field, they deserve the Super Bowl for sure.  They are having a magical run...  sprinkled with a little bit of luck here and there. 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

18 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said:

I guess my issue is I keep hearing Joe Burrow reminds people of Tom Brady, the guy who won 7 Super Bowls and is the GOAT.   So what about him reminds you of Brady?  No one says that part.   To compare a second year Quarterback, who has elite skill position talent around him, to literally the Greatest Quarterback of all time is hyperbolic to me.  Just wondering what about the guy is Bradyesque?

 

What I saw yesterday was a guy who arguably isnt a top QB in the league yet, play a pretty average football game and get very lucky Mahomes upchucked all over himself.   I fully expect the Bengals to get their heads caved in on the 13th.

Pocket movement, footwork, pocket calmness, and throwing style. 

 

I mean the DC he just played also compared Burrow to Brady.  It's not about accomplishments. It's about style of play. 

 

Burrow has a lot of learning to do to read defense like Brady.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Buffalo_Stampede

[billsfanmiamioh]

10 hours ago, HomeskillitMoorman said:

 

This is truth. If you watched that game, you could see the Bengals coaches were prepared and calm, and even enjoying those big moments. McDeerInTheHeadlights is lost when things get real. 

You must not watch many Bengals games. The local talk surrounding their resurgence is if the coaching staff will hold end up holding them back from reaching their full potential. Taylor has had many in game head scratchers including yesterday. Kicking the FG late in the game yesterday seemed insane to me and probably doesn’t work 9/10 times vs the chiefs. We would be KILLING McD if he did that. Bottom line, Bengals got lucky the Chiefs & Mahomes completely imploded. We should be pretty familiar with how that works…

[Niagara Dude]

5 minutes ago, Solomon Grundy said:

They showed Bengals rushed Hendrickson and Hubbard, two of their younger D linemen chasing Mahomes around. I wonder if things would’ve been different had the Bills sent Obada and Epenesa chasing the rat

That was the Chiefs feeling themselves. There were definitely adjustments made in the 2nd half though regardless of what the Rat said

I think the Bills need to focus on getting better talent on defensive side .  As for adjustments that Cincy made,  if you watch Mahomes's final pass and interception.  The Bengals rush 3 and have the 4th man two -three yards off the line as a spy and not allowing him to step up and either pass or run. The coverage down the field was far  tighter and it allowed the corner to get his hands on the ball and into the second defender.  Either way,  I think we can put away these ideas that the Bills need to focus on adding more offensive weapons so we can score on every possession in order to beat the Chiefs.  Get that defence stronger with more play makers and at least one stud. They put up stats because QB'S in our conference are good to average at best and we have some cupcake matchups. The Saints game alone we went against their 3rd stringer.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

9 minutes ago, Boatdrinks said:

Bills would have been crazy to play man vs Chiefs with Wallace and Jackson. Our game was about the 13 seconds. What transpired lost a game that was a win 99 times out of 100.

Yeah it's just something we can't do very well. We don't have man CBs other than Johnson. I was all about dropping 8 into coverage though, especially those final plays.

[Solomon Grundy]

13 minutes ago, Boatdrinks said:

Bills would have been crazy to play man vs Chiefs with Wallace and Jackson. Our game was about the 13 seconds. What transpired lost a game that was a win 99 times out of 100.

Apple and Iwuzee aren’t much better 

[Boatdrinks]

3 minutes ago, billsfanmiamioh said:

You must not watch many Bengals games. The local talk surrounding their resurgence is if the coaching staff will hold end up holding them back from reaching their full potential. Taylor has had many in game head scratchers including yesterday. Kicking the FG late in the game yesterday seemed insane to me and probably doesn’t work 9/10 times vs the chiefs. We would be KILLING McD if he did that. Bottom line, Bengals got lucky the Chiefs & Mahomes completely imploded. We should be pretty familiar with how that works…

I agree on the FG. Seemed like you could write in the ending after that. Bengals D made a few plays in the closing minutes and that was the difference. 

[Solomon Grundy]

8 minutes ago, Niagara Dude said:

I think the Bills need to focus on getting better talent on defensive side .  As for adjustments that Cincy made,  if you watch Mahomes's final pass and interception.  The Bengals rush 3 and have the 4th man two -three yards off the line as a spy and not allowing him to step up and either pass or run. The coverage down the field was far  tighter and it allowed the corner to get his hands on the ball and into the second defender.  Either way,  I think we can put away these ideas that the Bills need to focus on adding more offensive weapons so we can score on every possession in order to beat the Chiefs.  Get that defence stronger with more play makers and at least one stud. They put up stats because QB'S in our conference are good to average at best and we have some cupcake matchups. The Saints game alone we went against their 3rd stringer.

Sad thing is that the Bills did this in regular season win vs Chiefs although Tre was playing 

Edited January 31, 2022 by Solomon Grundy

[Boatdrinks]

1 minute ago, Solomon Grundy said:

Apple and Iwuzee aren’t much better 

Don’t know if they are or not, but Bills playing man vs KC ? I can only imagine the meltdown on this board. Might’ve needed to score 50 in that one. 

2 minutes ago, Solomon Grundy said:

Sad thing is that the Bills did this in regular season win vs Chiefs 

Maybe no Tre White changed their plans. Anyway the Bills lost it in the 13 seconds. 

[Livinginthepast]

2 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Burrow reminds me of Tom Brady.

He reminds me a lot of McCauley Caulkin!

[Magox]

Bottom line, the Bills were good enough to beat the Chiefs and possibly win the superbowl under it's current construct if it weren't for the last 13 seconds, which if the Bills were to have the same situation 10 more times, they most likely win all 10 of those games.

 

With that said, the more I think about it the more it makes sense to play Mahomes on obvious passing situations with 3 pass rushers and one spy, and the spy should never look to have his hands up so that he gets juked with the pass attempt by Mahomes and his only job is to drop back, Spy and take out any passes in his area and when the moment presents itself, to go in like a heat seeking missile on Mahomes.

 

That should be part of the blue print, along with two deep safety play.

[BarleyNY]

11 hours ago, Awwufelloff said:

How did the Bengals hold the Chiefs to 3 pts after halftime which included OT in which KC won the toss? How were they able to do something we couldn't?

The Bengals did something to Mahomes that I thought we’d see employed against Allen this season, but really didn’t.  They regularly rushed three and used a fourth in a multiple role.  First he dropped into a short zone and took away the quick slant while he also played spy.  Then he often rushed late when the short middle cleared out and/or he had a clear path to Mahomes.  I need to watch it again and see what else they did.  Refs were letting the OLs and defense hold a lot which helped Cincy’s coverage.  Rushing 3 made a lot of sense too since the OL holding was slowing up the rush anyway.

[Evian]

The Bengals get the most out of their talent. They are extremely well coached. 3 post season games all decided by 1 score. They won them all.

 

The Bills are the exact opposite. They regularly lost to teams with inferior talent and could not win a single close game. Not a single one in 6 tries.

 

You can't win 3 or 4 straight playoff games with coaches that can't coach under pressure. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[YoloinOhio]

They didn’t do anything in the 1st half - chiefs had 21 pts, 292 yards and no turnovers or sacks. but in the 2nd half the cincy defense rushed 3, dropped 8 and put a spy on Mahomes. 

 

Whether it was result of their D of not, Mahomes reverted to the hero ball he was playing with the first part of the season when they started 3-4. That was how the Bills D beat him in October. He was chasing big plays instead of playing smart football and he took bad sacks and turned tHe ball over. He made poor decisions and yesterday’s loss is 100% on him. He took 2 sacks with a 3 man rush on the final 2 plays of regulation. They were 1st and goal on the 5 and ended up kicking a FG on 4th and 26! 

Edited January 31, 2022 by YoloinOhio

[Dkollidas]

Gotta keep adding pass rushers and defensive linemen in general. 
 

if they have a chance at a guy like Jordan Davis, he would allow them to run a 3 man front more often, and would take double teams away from Ed Oliver. 

[Best Williams Available]

9 hours ago, Buffalo Barbarian said:

 

Not sure if he mentally fell apart but was pressing too hard and started making errors.

 

 

Wasn’t he like 6/24 passing in 2nd half? For him that’s a complete breakdown. 

[Buffalo716]

1 hour ago, Evian said:

The Bengals get the most out of their talent. They are extremely well coached. 3 post season games all decided by 1 score. They won them all.

 

The Bills are the exact opposite. They regularly lost to teams with inferior talent and could not win a single close game. Not a single one in 6 tries.

 

You can't win 3 or 4 straight playoff games with coaches that can't coach under pressure. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yea we were only like 6-0 in 1 score games last year and playoffs 4 out of 5 

 

We are still a much better team than the Bengals... We took the sail out of the cheifs and they took advantage 

 

McDermott routinely outcoached teams and took a terribly mediocre team with little talent and TT as his QB and took us to the playoffs 

 

That was a miracle coaching job and he is routinely growing as a coach which is not debatable

[JÂy RÛßeÒ]

Their D, ranked 17th in the league, outperformed our #1 ranked D, especially in overtime.  A few factors I think:
 

1. Coaching.  They didn't panic, didn't flinch, and were in the right calls for the situation.  They adjusted at the half down 21-3.
2. Fundamentals.  They tackled.  We gave up 225 YAC on 33 completions.  They allowed only 275 yards total.
3. Scheme. 
   1. They handled Mahomes correctly:
      1. Their D only had 13 picks all year, but they picked off Mahomes twice.  We had 0 picks.
      2. They sacked him 4 times and hit him another 5.  We had 2 and 2.
      3. They held him to 19 rushing yards, compared to 69 we gave up.
      4. They dropped 8 into coverage on 35% of plays, coming away with a pick and 2 sacks on those plays while holding Mahomes to 7-13-59.
   2. They got off the field, allowing 2 fewer 3rd down conversions than we did.
   3. They didn't let Hill and Kelce beat them.   
      1. Combined, they were targeted 22 times against us for 19 completions, 246 yards, and 2 TDs.  On 21 targets yesterday, they had 17 completions but only 173 yards with 2 TDs
      2. Tyreek Hill in the 2nd half - no receptions!
4. Condition.  They hadn't been in the track meet with KC's offense like ours was, chasing their QB and their WRs all game.  So they were not gassed like ours was.  They had 36 minutes of possession.  We had 27.
5. Personnel.  They weren't missing their top cover corner.

 

It sure didn't hurt that the Chiefs thought they had the game won and played like it.

Edited January 31, 2022 by JÂy RÛßeÒ

[TH3]

Good Lord…Mahomes went average at 29.55 of first half and that was the bigger part

[zow2]

I loved the way Cinci handled the OT.  Sure KC tied it on a final play FG. Sure KC won the coin toss, and all the Arrowhead fans roared as if they won the game right there.   But Cincinnati covered the kickoff, then punched KC right in the mouth...3 and out (final play being an INT).  Goodnight Chiefs.  That was handled so professionally by the CInci coaches and defensive players. I was envious.

[JohnNord]

21 minutes ago, JÂy RÛßeÒ said:

Their D, ranked 17th in the league, outperformed our #1 ranked D, especially in overtime.  A few factors I think:
 

1. Coaching.  They didn't panic, didn't flinch, and were in the right calls for the situation.  They adjusted at the half down 21-3.
2. Fundamentals.  They tackled.  We gave up 225 YAC on 33 completions.  They allowed only 275 yards total.
3. Scheme. 
   1. They handled Mahomes correctly:
      1. Their D only had 13 picks all year, but they picked off Mahomes twice.  We had 0 picks.
      2. They sacked him 4 times and hit him another 5.  We had 2 and 2.
      3. They held him to 19 rushing yards, compared to 69 we gave up.
      4. They dropped 8 into coverage on 35% of plays, coming away with a pick and 2 sacks on those plays while holding Mahomes to 7-13-59.
   2. They got off the field, allowing 2 fewer 3rd down conversions than we did.
   3. They didn't let Hill and Kelce beat them.   
      1. Combined, they were targeted 22 times against us for 19 completions, 246 yards, and 2 TDs.  On 21 targets yesterday, they had 17 completions but only 173 yards with 2 TDs
      2. Tyreek Hill in the 2nd half - no receptions!
4. Condition.  They hadn't been in the track meet with KC's offense like ours was, chasing their QB and their WRs all game.  So they were not gassed like ours was.  They had 36 minutes of possession.  We had 27.
5. Personnel.  They weren't missing their top cover corner.

 

It sure didn't hurt that the Chiefs thought they had the game won and played like it.

I will agree with a lot of what you wrote but I have to add that this was a game of matchups.  The Bengals defense stacked up well against KC because they have a strong defensive line that was winning their matchups.  They got pressure on Mahomes but brought him down.

 

The other things that changed in the 2nd half was that the corners were playing bump and run and were aggressive in their coverage.  Again taking advantage of a matchup.   

[dma0034]

They hit Mahomes. That is the difference. Make no mistake about it: the D-Line is what screwed the Bills last week. Could have easily stopped the Cheifs their first 2 drives with wrapping him up, instead they let him run. 

 

 

I will also say there are always fluke plays that happen. Last week the ball was tipped once and hit the ground a second too early. When players put their hands up Mahomes waited last week. This week tipped ball get intercepted because a defender put his hands up. 

[bmur66]

They didn't bend and break.

[Process]

16 minutes ago, TH3 said:

Good Lord…Mahomes went average at 29.55 of first half and that was the bigger part

If mahomes played average or even close to it, the Chiefs are in the Superbowl