How did the Bengals do it?

[FilthyBeast]

Regardless of what you think of the Bengals, they are on the verge of winning a SB and have defied traditional 'rebuilding' norms and expectations.

 

And in just one year of the playoffs Zac Taylor has just as many postseason wins as Sean McDermott. He also has 2 road wins in the playoffs compared to zero for McDermott and is the first coach to beat Andy Reid in both the regular and postseason.

 

In other words, this is another direct indictment on our own head coach and his failures and why remaining time in Buffalo is going to be much shorter than some fans think unless he delivers a championship next year.

[KGun12TD]

Better Coaching!

[Alphadawg7]

15 hours ago, PetermansRedemption said:

8 man coverage. Mahomes was something like 5 for 17 with 57 yards and an INT against that coverage. The Bengals adjusted at halftime, something Frazier is seemingly allergic to. 

 

Frazier has shown to be able to adjust at halftime, but I think thats with McD's input and help.  Frazier is much much worse at adjusting in game and is awful at situational awareness.  

 

The most disappointing thing for me this offseason so far was seeing Daboll go to the Giants instead of the Dolphins.  That was the only place it seemed Frazier had a shot of getting a HC gig at.  And now, I fear we are saddled with him again next year.  

 

Could we do worse than Frazier, sure...and at times our D carried us when our offense wasn't in sync this year.  But I don't think his style of defense matches up well with the Chiefs for one, and he keeps playing that same style they keep exploiting.  

[Repulsif]

read a few KC boards topics and they're saying that that's a coach(es) fault

 

(Sounds familiar)

[Buffalo Barbarian]

6 hours ago, Best Williams Available said:

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

 

Not all mental, just couldn't get the job done.

 

 

[GETTOTHE50]

the bills softened them up for the bengals. we take everything out of the chiefs

 

they lost to the bucs and bengals after beating us

[prissythecat]

9 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Adjustments that didn't happen.

Ding ding ding. Deer in Headlights reference!

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?

 

 

 

[LABILLBACKER]

20 hours ago, SCBills said:

Its not complicated to me.  
 

Our entire defensive effort was basically pass rushers flying off the edge with no rhyme or reason and either getting looped out of the play or diving at Mahomes feet, linebackers who were - as usual - doing something that isn’t quantifiable to the average fan apparently, and cornerbacks playing off ball all game to hide their lack of speed/talent. 

Winning answer 

[Jerome007]

While I agree with many of the takes, I also feel the Bengals are... plain lucky. Sure they deserve some of it, but damn, things simply are rolling their way so far. 

 

That trend could continue in the SB, but I wouldn't be surprised that this final was yet another blowout game, with them on the bad end of it (Rams being blown out would be a surprise though)

 

The weirdly positive thing if they win, is that both Mahomes and Burrows would have a ring, so the pressure on Josh  to get one will make him stay as driven as he is now. 

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by Jerome007

[Alphadawg7]

20 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?

 

Not every game goes the same.  We lost to the Jags.  Bengals lost to the Jets.  Sometimes players are in a different zone.  Josh and Mahomes were both playing out of their mind in our game.  Doesn't mean both will play at that level each game.  Mahomes sure didnt in our first meeting earlier in the year.

 

So my advice, dont over react too much to a single game.  Which is the same advice I keep saying in some threads where people want to do extreme things like fire Beane, our coaches, trade all our picks for elite players and mortgage our future and cap health to go all in one year...etc etc.  

 

Reality is, we beat them twice this year...just second time we gave the game away over some terrible defensive decisions by Frazier in final 13 seconds, compounded by a coin toss that didn't go our way.  

 

And the second time, we were missing our best defensive player who probably has a big impact on the game in Tre White too.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Alphadawg7

[TBBills]

Called getting lucky, happens all the time. 

 

They played the CHiefs when Mahomes had a let down game, they played a ***** Titans team who were the least intimidating #1 seed in NFL hisyory.

6 hours ago, FilthyBeast said:

Regardless of what you think of the Bengals, they are on the verge of winning a SB and have defied traditional 'rebuilding' norms and expectations.

 

And in just one year of the playoffs Zac Taylor has just as many postseason wins as Sean McDermott. He also has 2 road wins in the playoffs compared to zero for McDermott and is the first coach to beat Andy Reid in both the regular and postseason.

 

In other words, this is another direct indictment on our own head coach and his failures and why remaining time in Buffalo is going to be much shorter than some fans think unless he delivers a championship next year.

They might not even make the playoffs next year, this could be a one year fluke just like the Eagles.

 

Eagles did the same exact thing and beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Edited January 31, 2022 by TBBills

[DrPJax]

14 hours ago, mannc said:

Who is Cinci’s disruptive pass rusher?  I don’t think their D-line is better than ours; I think it’s a scheme issue.

I agree , yet it was evident the older Bills players were ineffective hitting and tackling Mahomes. At times it seemed the plays against Cincy went on forever, yet they still managed sacks and didn’t give up the huge back breaking runs.  Somehow, despite dropping into coverage , they  seemed to effectively spy Mahomes who ran for huge chunk plays and multiple first downs against us. He did that in the first drive of the game , when our d line should have still been fresh.   So either our scheme is flawed , which under Frazier now seemed to have peaked and honestly finally cost us a legit SB shot, or it’s just we lack speed there which is a real possibility. I just look at this situation, with a young head coach in Cincy , and they were able to scheme effectively on D enough with second half adjustments to allow them to shut KC down and they , not us, are playing in the SB.  
 

This is embarrassing given our “ continuity” with Frazier and the fact KC put 42 points up on this #1 D is hard to forget. Frazier is likely  not getting a HC job, and it’s possible that is just related to it Him having not being a good head coach, but I think witnessing our collapse and defensive breakdown In that game sealed his lack of opportunity and we are stuck with him and his passive schemes unless Mcd has the ability  to move forward.  I don’t see that happening at all or it PROBABLY would have already happened , especially with new head coaches needing to fill coordinator spots as guys with good credentials will be disappearing as staffs get filled. Leading up to the SB we will  hear all about how well Cincy adjusted on D during the second half adding a little salt to the wound, while Bills fans live with that epic collapse on D.   Cincys success proves you can quickly have success with the right pieces in place and while we are sitting home watching, it should be apparent  that our current  D talent managed to negate our offensive firepower in KC.    Next year will be tough with KC, Cincy and the Rams all on the schedule and I hope Beane has a great off-season because we need better talent in our defensive front 7 to effectively run the defensive scheme it appears we will continue to run  with the same coaching pieces still in place. 

[Boatdrinks]

6 hours ago, prissythecat said:

 

 

 

Bengals didn’t use anything new in the game plan, just changed how often  they were using it. Why? What they were doing wasn’t working. They were a play away from giving up 4 TDs in the half and were down on the scoreboard. The Bills were tied with the Chiefs at the half, so probably weren’t looking for big changes in strategy. Now , about that pesky 13 seconds though...

[YoloinOhio]

 

[zow2]

Just from my couch it seemed like the Bengals made Mahomes extremely uncomfortable in the pocket from that final 1st half play through the end of OT.  It’s like the Cinci defense played a mind trick on Mahomes.

The Bills defenders showed the KC receivers way too much respect in our game.  That has to stop. 

[Dr.Sack]

The Bengals pass rush was disciplined and included a lot of rotating stunts, they kept Mahomes contained in the pocket with a 3 man rush and used a 4th to spy & occasionally brought him to add more pressure. And they also blitzed effectively on a few occasions.

[Scott7975]

They dropped 8, rushed 3, left one as a spy in the middle of the field.  Tight coverage giving Mahomes nowhere to go, the spy kept Mahomes in the pocket, and the 3 man rush eventually gets there.

[Big Turk]

This shows a lot of what they did and how they did it...Bills should have been able to do a lot of the same stuff but apparently just didn't bother?

 

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/bengals-defense-stumped-patrick-mahomes-110357375.html

[The Wiz]

They watched our game film, laughed for a solid 8-10 hours and did the opposite. 

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Single high, drop 8 with a spy, take notes Frazier.

 

 

On 2/2/2022 at 10:29 PM, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

Is Fangio still available?? Id take him in a heartbeat of Frazier, tired of our over conservative defense. We are super aggressive on offense its time to do more on defense.