Week 17: Bills at Bengals on MNF

[RiotAct]

Must win. Dig deep.  Find a way.  Play your game.  Win one for the Gipper.  The band is on the field!  THE BAND IS ON THE FIELD!!!

[Dan]

I would say its the biggest game, since  week 6 against the Chiefs.  Easily.  Huge playoff implications!  

[Scott7975]

48 minutes ago, Greg S said:

 

This is the #1 vs #3 game. Win it and they are most likely the #1 seed. Lose and you are probably looking at the #3 seed.

 

This is true and kind of what I meant by playoff game.  

[Greg S]

Just now, Scott7975 said:

 

This is true and kind of what I meant by playoff game.  

 

I want them to win every game of course but I really want this one. If they win at Cincinnati, then the #1 seed is theirs most likely. I don't want the Bills to have to travel to CIN or KC in the playoffs.

[HOUSE]

BLOOD BATH 

[BeastMaster]

The hard truth is that this is a must win if we are to truly have a shot at playing in the big one.

 

 

The implications of a loss will put us through a gauntlet while either KC or CIN gets a week off, and a home game against us if we manage to beat either KC or CIN on the road in the divisional round.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dick_Cheney]

How big of a loss for Cinci is losing their RT?

[zow2]

NFL is all about matchups and for all we know, Josh Allen and these Bills match up well with Cincinnati.  If they can avoid turnovers and just handing the Bengals easy points, i think the Bills win.  Buffalo is a very good road team. 

[Beck Water]

38 minutes ago, Dick_Cheney said:

How big of a loss for Cinci is losing their RT?

 

Good question.  He was injured in the 1Q vs the Pats.  Bengals did complete a drive into the 2Q for a FG and a TD drive in the 2Q, but were held scoreless all 2nd half.  Had ~2 sacks and 2 INTs in that time.  Didn't watch the game, no idea if the backup RT played a role in that.

 

Pretty sure the guy who came in for him (and in a previous game vs. Atlanta, Hakeem Adeniji, played Guard for the Bengals last season.

4 minutes ago, zow2 said:

NFL is all about matchups and for all we know, Josh Allen and these Bills match up well with Cincinnati.  If they can avoid turnovers and just handing the Bengals easy points, i think the Bills win.  Buffalo is a very good road team. 

 

"for all we know" seems a little sketch.

 

Can you tell us why you think the Bills might match up well against the Bengals?

[FLFan]

2 hours ago, Greg S said:

 

Who do you think Troy will be drooling over more Allen or Burrow?

Burrow, for sure.  He is not a fan of Allen’s style.  He understands Burrow.

[EmotionallyUnstable]

Regarding match ups, one thing I am very concerned over is how our secondary will handle these WRs.

 

Chase and Higgins are a great duo, and they each offer something the other does not. Chase is quick and fast, a great route runner and offers the big play potential with a lot of YAC. After watching speedy WRs

running through this defense at times, I will be holding my breath after he catches quick passes because of poor tackling and bad angles.

 

Higgins is tall and lengthy with great hands. He is a down field threat in size and good with contested catches, something the bills this year and in past years have struggled to match up against.

 

Its my guess that you’ll see Fraiser often try and take away Chase with defensive alignment, keeping safety help over the top and in quick windows. Higgins will be tasked with winning his one on ones.

 

Pass rush will be crucial here. Hopefully that DL keeps stepping up making plays with batted balls, and pressures.

Edited December 26, 2022 by EmotionallyUnstable

[Boatdrinks]

7 minutes ago, FLFan said:

Burrow, for sure.  He is not a fan of Allen’s style.  He understands Burrow.

It will be a Bengals ball schmoozing fest. Go with the Bills radio feed or the regular MNF Westwood One feed over the TV audio. 

[Giuseppe Tognarelli]

2 hours ago, Bob in STL said:

The playoffs start on MNF next week.  

Yes they do.

 

Look at the difference in playoff paths. Biggest Bills game in memory.

 

If Bills beat Bengals and Patriots:

Wild Card: bye
Divisional: home vs. Jaguars (or Titans), Ravens, Chargers, or Dolphins
Championship: home vs. Chiefs or Bengals

 

If Bills lose to Bengals:

Wild Card: home vs. Ravens or Chargers
Divisional: on road at Bengals
Championship: on road at Chiefs

Edited December 26, 2022 by Giuseppe Tognarelli

[strive_for_five_guy]

2 hours ago, Greg S said:

 

Who do you think Troy will be drooling over more Allen or Burrow?

Apparently we never get the Mannings on our MNF games?  Would much prefer their perspective over Aikman/Buck.

[HaldimandBills]

This sets up to be a pretty even match up. Bengals receivers are no joke and the Bills have proven time and again we are incapable of shutting down a true # 1 receiver which Chase is. 

 

Burrow is definitely in the same group as Mahomes and Allen. 

 

I would like to have more knowledge on how the Bengals handle mobile QBs. I struggle to underrate any defense that has beat Mahomes three times.

 

All in all I really would rather win and have KC and Cincinnati throw down in Round 2. 

Edited December 26, 2022 by HaldimandBills

[Mark92]

12 minutes ago, HaldimandBills said:

This sets up to be a pretty even match up. Bengals receivers are no joke and the Bills have proven time and again we are incapable of shutting down a true # 1 receiver which Chase is. 

 

Burrow is definitely in the same group as Mahomes and Allen. 

 

I would like to have more knowledge on how the Bengals handle mobile QBs. I struggle to underrate any defense that has beat Mahomes three times.

 

All in all I really would rather win and have KC and Cincinnati throw down in Round 2. 

Yeah if we want home field this is a MUST win.  Without it we probably end up as the 3 seed.  

[Motor26]

21 minutes ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

Apparently we never get the Mannings on our MNF games?  Would much prefer their perspective over Aikman/Buck.

 

DAMN. Would have loved to watch Manningcast for this game. 

[Rich Stadium Original]

Disagree a bit..Burrow is an excellent, accurate thrower and elusive in the pocket, but not nearly the running threat that Mahommes or Allen are. Just a bit less of a headace for the DC.  If I'm not mistaken, he has seen much less pressure in the pocket than Mahommes or Allen in recent weeks with multiple talented WRs.

[Patrick Duffy]

48 minutes ago, zow2 said:

NFL is all about matchups and for all we know, Josh Allen and these Bills match up well with Cincinnati.  If they can avoid turnovers and just handing the Bengals easy points, i think the Bills win.  Buffalo is a very good road team. 

 

I hope Bills OL will be healthy enough to get Morse back along with Bates hopefully able to go again. I think Bengals have a pretty solid DL and could be a difficult day for Bills OL.

 

 

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, Beck Water said:

Can you tell us why you think the Bills might match up well against the Bengals?

 

On offense the Bengals are one dimensional. They're only averaging 3.9 yards per rush, 28th lowest in the league. Our defense thrives against one dimensional offenses. Their OL is still very vulnerable so that bodes well for us being able to get pressure with four which is what our scheme is based around. You can't play man against this group of receivers but we almost always play zone anyways. Burrow is smart and accurate so he will find windows in zone and make plays, we aren't going to shut them out. Just have to pressure him enough to affect him and keep them in 3rd and long situations while bracketing Chase. The goal on defense IMO is hold them under 24 points.

 

On defense they have a very solid front four but Hubbard is unlikely to play and Hendrickson is playing with a broken wrist. Logan Wilson isn't a playmaker but he does a good job covering the middle. Their safeties are both very good. The weakness there is their outside CBs and luckily we are an offense that thrives throwing the ball to our WRs on the boundary so that's a great matchup. DJ Reader is arguably the best run stopper in the league so this is not a game where we will be able to lean on the run game as much. Since this is practically a playoff game Allen will not be shy about running the ball and that is a matchup problem for any defense we play. So for us the matchup advantages are outside WRs and Allen running as necessary.

 

On special teams not too much to say but the Bengals kicker has really been struggling lately. In a likely close game that gives us another decided advantage.

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by HappyDays