LOVEMESOMEBILLS

With Cincy’s loss, all 3 teams(49ers, Bengals, Bills) that entered the playoffs on long winning streaks failed to make the Super Bowl. The Pats 10 game winning streak to win the Super Bowl remains the longest since 2010.

It was when Von went down, but I'm sure you were just like me. Blinded by the wins week after week. Our only real shot with our badly banged up secondary was Von Miller playing like a future Hall of Famer. Hamlin wasn't playing that well, Poyer was already showing obvious signs he was beaten up and Tre was clearly having problems returning to form. We needed a dominant pass rusher.

I don't know about that. Threw for 354 yards, 3 tds and put up 32 points in his 2nd Super Bowl appearance. I would agree before that game, but his 2nd Super Bowl was his coming out party as one of the best in the game.

It sure was. Also some of that anger might be to the fact that his defense has played lights out for 7 postseason games with nothing to show for it. Both times they lost they only gave up 23 points. They've carried this team in the last 2 postseasons.

When Buffalo rushes the QB, even when they bring extra people, it looks like the OL are magnets and the Bills DL is steel. They're instantly attracted to one another. Make someone miss, go around someone. Not enough size or strength to constantly go through a bigger blocker. Bruce Smith needs to come in and show these guys how to set up and put moves on an olinemen.

Jones was a one man wrecking crew, while getting held on most plays.

I also proved what you said, ain't quite right. Isn't the best QB, no **** Sherlock!😂😂

But I've learned over and over, on this board just this week, if you don't win the Super Bowl your season is a failure. They failed, just like 30 other teams will this year. They just have a sh!tt!er draft position. Imo worst take in the world on a QB is going off record and not performance. Put Allen on the Bengals and he has one, if not 2 rings by the end of this year. He could only be so fortunate to have a playoff defense like that.

Tom had 2 Super Bowl wins after 2 postseasons, Burrow has none. Also Tom threw 3 tds and put up 32 points in his 2nd Super Bowl. Joe Burrow has done neither of those things in 1 extra game. Despite having the best WR trio in both postseasons. To date he's been carried in his postseason career.

The team is 5-2, not Joe Burrow. He's been average, at best, in 7 playoff games. His offense averages less than 23 ppg, never scored more than 27. While the defense gives up less than 19 ppg and never more than 24 in any of those games. 7 games, 9 td passes, 19 fgs. Sounds like Joe has trouble putting the ball in the endzone come playoff time. In 7 games he's equalled the same td passes Allen had in a 2 game postseason last year. He's won in the playoffs because of others, not because of himself.

Omg. Literally every passing play Jones was being held, sometimes by 2 guys at once.😂

They also benefitted from the refs in the Raiders. The one ref accidentally blew the whistle during the go ahead td play and half the Raiders on defense quit playing. By rule the ball is supposed to be returned to the los and the play redone, instead they awarded the Bengals the go ahead td .

Don't hit a player when he's out of bounds, especially a QB. This is a well known rule. It was clear by his emotions on the bench after the game, Ossai knew he ****** up. That's not on the refs, it's on him.

I have no idea what you're talking about. Apparently we watched different games.

Exactly. The defense and fg kicker are the primary reason for their playoff success. Who couldn't win with a defense who gives up less than 19 ppg in those 7 games, never giving up more than 24 points and with a fg kicker going 19/19 in fgs. Heck the defense even threw in a game winning td a few weeks ago. He's been a very average QB in the playoffs to date.

I agree, definitely a late hit. I also was rooting for neither team, but if you put a gun to my head, I would've picked the Chiefs. The Bengals needed to be knocked down a peg.

And right there is your typical Joe Burrow playoff game, except this time with ints. 250-270 yards and 1, occasionally 2 td passes. Typical scoring also usually 2 offensive tds and 2-3 fgs. Still never put up more than 27 points in 7 playoff games. In 7 games he now has 9 td passes and the fg kicker has 19 fgs. It has taken him 7 full games to equal the tds passes Josh had in 2 games last year. Defense and special teams is why Cincy is 5-2 in the playoffs, with (2) 23-20 defeats.

Hey you returned!!! Yet after some time away you are still the only one who thinks this. You and no one else. So keep thinking this way, but no one who plays, coaches, writes, broadcasts or is a fan of the game believes what you believe. But good for you though, you do you.😂

The difference between the Bengals and the Bills is Joe is never been asked to carry the Bengals in the postseason. He's never asked to do more than his fair share. In 6 playoff games Burrow has less passing tds than Allen did in just 2 games last year(8 vs 9). Their offense has averaged just 23 ppg in the playoffs, never scoring more than 27 in any game and yet they're 5-1. It's because their defense has given up an average of only 18 ppg and never surrendering more than 24 points in those games. Last year their fg kicker was 14/14 on fgs. Burrow receives far more help than Allen does in the playoffs and is never asked to be super human.

The elephant in the room is the talent and coaching around Allen. Joe Burrow is 5-1 in his postseason career, making back to back AFCCG and a Super Bowl appearance(Maybe 2). He has the best WR trio in the league and yet they don't ask him to do more than his 1/22 share. Here’s what I mean..... Take away the td scored by the defense in the WC round this year and in the 6 postseason games Cincy offense is averaging exactly 23 points a game. Burrow has less passing tds in 6 games than Josh had in just the 2 playoff games last year. So 8 td passes in 6 games = 5-1, but Josh's 9 td passes in 2 games = 1-1. Burrow has received so much more support from his defense and special teams than Allen. He knows if he's smart with the football and makes a few timely plays his team has a good chance to win. Meanwhile Allen feels he has to be Superman in the playoffs to advance and even then it may not be enough. Get the man some help!!

Old Billy Boy can have the oline too if he likes.✌️

Once again I'm not disagreeing with you on them spending resources on the offense. I literally said WR & a couple quality players for the Oline. A quality RG & RT would be nice & move Bates back to LG where he played much better last year. The oline line would be much better then. Draft a guy to hopefully unseat Gabe at the #2 WR spot or push him to be better. I would also keep Hines and sign or draft a bigger back as a change of pace opposite Cook & Hines. I think we're on the same page as far as the offense goes. We're on the same page on defense, except for this year. I agree with the 2 prior years against KC. I have said this in another thread... They keep building teams to try and conquer 1 particular team. First 2 years it was Tom Brady and the Pats. Then Brady left and was replaced with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. For 3 years we've been building to beat them. Now along come the Bengals. They both(McBeane) have mentioned doing this every offseason. I think they need to scrap this way of thinking and build their own team with their own identity. Make teams keep up with you not vice versa.

The Bengals scored what they could, once again all you have here is opinion. Facts are they scored 27 or .9 points over their season average. If we flipped all the assets over the last few years, we would not be a top 15 defense, not even close. By the way who's playing defense if we didn't spend the money or the draft picks on them? The defense ranked 6th giving up 319.1 ypg, 15th place gave up 334.0. So it would only cost us 14.9 yards a game. Come on dude, do you really believe this?😂 And for all those assets for an offense to get 15- 20 ypg and another point or 2 per game. But we are already #2 in ypg and ppg. Do we need to add a couple of quality players on the oline and a WR, sure I would 100% agree with that. But at the same time we have a weapon in Cook and they refused to use him. 6 carries a game, when having the highest ypc average in the NFL, is almost criminal. We needed speed and had Cook & Hines, but Dorsey refused to use them. In the end it's the over the top stuff that gets me. I mean you're still so angry that you can't acknowledge that injuries played the biggest role in the defensive performance Sunday. When it was painfully obvious watching it, what & who we were lacking. Take San Fran or Dallas defenses, remove their best pass rusher and Free Safety & backup. Limit their Strong Safety & their #1 Corner. Remove a big guy from the middle of their dline and limit another one. They would get their butts kicked by Cincy's offense just like Buffalo did.

So you get suspended and come right back to pout some more? When I was reading your original post all I could picture was a little kid kicking and screaming because mommy wouldn't buy him ice cream. As far as the defense goes.....Yes prior year's blunders, I get it and am fully on board with criticism of some of those games(Mainly the last 2 KC playoff games). But how aggressive do you expect a DC to be down starters and others playing nowhere near 100%. Let's take a look at what he was dealing with on Sunday: Free Safety: 2 time 2nd team All-Pro(2017 & 2021) Micah Hyde, injured in game #2- out. #2 FS Hamlin, injured - out. #3 Marlowe started game, but was injured and didn't return. Down to our #4 FS. Strong Safety: Last year's 1st team All-Pro SS Jordan Poyer playing, but multiple injuries took a toll on him. He's a warrior, but his play started to decline after his injury in week #4 against the Ravens and it only went downhill from there. By the end of the year, with the torn meniscus, he was so much slower. Poyer gets hurt in the game, in comes the #2 SS Johnson. #1 Corner back: x2 All-Pro CB Tre White, playing, but he was nowhere near pre ACL Tre White and was a liability in the passing game. Linebacker/Defensive End: x7 time All-Pro and future 1st ballot Hall of Famer Von Miller. Tore his ACL in week 12, out. This defense was far different when he was playing, our pressure rate dropped 20 spots once he was hurt, so did our ranking in every major defensive catagory. Those 4 players have 12 All-Pro selections between them. And they were either out or severely limited. Add to that the guy who anchored the middle of of DL(Jones)....out and Phillips playing with 1 arm. What defense would play well under those circumstances. 4 our of the top 5 players out or playing hurt? Best passer, #1 & #2 Free Safeties, Strong Safety & best CB. The scheme wasn't aggressive because the players hurt accounted for most of the talent on that side of the ball. Is that so hard to see? You like picking on the signing of Von. Quoting spending over $100 million on him. Yet any Bills fan knows Von's real deal is 3 years $52.5 million, that's nothing but over the top sensationalism to try and prove a failing point. On top of that he clearly showed his worth, all you have to do is look at the defense pre vs post injury. You said their ranking in the regular season doesn't mean anything because they play easier teams rather than the tough teams you meet in the playoffs. That's true to a degree, last year's defense would be a prime example of that, but this defense played much harder teams and much tougher offenses. The defense in the first 6-7 games this year was very good. They ranked better than San Fran's at the time and played a far harder schedule. Week 3 - At Miami vs pre concussion Tua. Miami entered the game averaging 31 ppg. The defense gave up 21 points a week after Tua threw for 469 yards and 6 tds vs the Ravens. Tua threw for 186 yards & 1 td vs a defense without Hyde, Poyer & White. 7 of the 21 points was a 6 yard td drive curiosity of an offensive turnover. We should've won this game with that defensive effort. Week 4 - At Baltimore vs healthy Lamar: Baltimore entered the game averaging 33.3 ppg, the defense held them to 20. What makes this more impressive is Baltimore had a 4 yard td drive and 12 yard fg drive because of offensive turnovers. Offense only put up 23 and gave up 10 on turnovers. The defense won us this game. Week 5 - At home vs Pitt. Nothing too impressive with this, it's just sandwiched in a 4 game stretch I'm going off of. Though it's important to note it was the lowest point total for Pitt all year. Week 6 - At KC. Kc entered the game averaging 33 ppg. Held Mahomes and the Chiefs to their 2nd lowest point total all year, in their house. With the offense scoring only 24, yet again the defense clearly won this game for us. They were playing playoff teams and top offenses, at their full power, early in the year before the injuries became too much. And performed exceptionally, with all 3 big wins on the road. That doesn't even count week 1, Rams - 10 points, week 2, Titans - 7 points. Week 8, Packers - 17 points, week 9, Jets - 20 points. After 8 games they were giving up only 14.75 ppg. The defense at the end of the year was a shell of what it was in the 1st half of the year, not because of scheme or coaching, but because their top talent on defense was Injured. Once again I get the frustration with the defense from the last few postseasons. I just don't see what could've been done given the players playing last Sunday. The Bengals scored .9 points over their season average against a very wounded defense. The onslaught should've been worse. I wouldn't have been satisfied with our offense if we only scored 27 against a defense in that bad of shape.

I would say there is a pretty good chance you're right. The offense was on fire and we were quite healthy last year. Down just 1 guy, sucks it happened to be Tre though. I would add, if we had been as lucky in the injury department this year as last, down just 1 starter and all others rather healthy, I think we would've been really good also. As long as that injury is not to Hyde, then he plays and the Hamlin injury never happens.