Thoughts on Bengals Game.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

26 minutes ago, newcam2012 said:

I was screaming at the TV after the first play. I said WTF are we doing? What kind of plan was that? The Tre hold saved a TD which they get in a matter of moments. Not sure how or why the Bills looked so unprepared for the Bengal attack. Also, it didn't look like they had it figured out on the 2nd drive either. 

Well stated!

Everything about that was frustrating.

 

From them lining up late, you could see in the screen no Safety so it was going to be Tre one on one.

 

They tried some blitz off the edge that had no chance.

 

And for all the Bills always adjust, I don’t understand why they had to

learn that lesson in person to convince ourselves that the tape and stats are wrong about the Bengals. 
 

Like you I was screaming at the TV, you knew as soon as they lined up what was going to happen and I did too.

 

But really it started around 6:45 PM - 7:00 PM hearing that Rhodes was inactive, knowing Benford was not activated either. Going against the Bengals your plan was four healthy corners?

[MphsBillsfan]

9 hours ago, Augie said:

 

It would almost feel odd if the opponent did NOT score on the first drive. We adjust and get it together eventually in almost every game. We can’t take anything significant from what we saw last night. 

Exactly.  The D looked like crap in the Bears game the first drive.  They usually adjust well.

[NewEra]

7 minutes ago, FilthyBeast said:

I rewatched the first quarter earlier and it really did seem like the Bills were overmatched and that the Bengals were primed to make a big statement on national TV. I know others have mentioned the Bills starting slow which has been their MO even during this 6 game win streak, but I felt all along this would be a 'wake up call' type of lopsided affair as these type of games rarely live up to the hype.

 

As much as I'll never be a fan of frazier and mcd's scheme, I will say it was someone encouraging to seem them come out with an aggressive gameplan even though it backfired early. But the bigger issue is still the fact that the defensive line can't get consistent pressure and secondary is truly in shambles now even before the tragic incident played out. I also said that White would not be the same guy this year and that's proven to be the case, in fact he's flat out terrible out there and this team will have a big decision to make in the offseason regarding his future on the team.

Wrong board man!!  Oh I forgot, you need the Bills to win this week so Miami has a chance to make the playoffs.  Focus on the Jets

[Big Turk]

 

This is why what it "looked" like in the 1st quarter shouldn't be taken as what would have happened for the entire game. The Bills have given up quite a few first drive TDs/points this year and then adjusted relatively well after.

 

Edited January 4, 2023 by Big Turk

[SoCal Deek]

3 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

This is why what it "looked" like in the 1st quarter shouldn't be taken as what would have happened for the entire game. The Bills have given up quite a few first drive TDs/points this year and then adjusted relatively well after.

 

Yikes....that is interesting. I'm actually glad to see the numbers bear out what most of us fans have been thinking all along.

[LABILLBACKER]

On 1/3/2023 at 8:17 AM, Robert Paulson said:

i didn't understand why they were blitzing either.  Burrow is the least efficient against a 3 man rush and fully zone- why did we do the opposite?

 

And why use Edmunds as a blitzer? He is the least effective blitzer on this team. Either don't blitz at all or dial up Milano occassionally. 

[LABILLBACKER]

On 1/3/2023 at 8:39 AM, Success said:

I was surprised Bease didn't corral that pass. It was overthrown, but he has always been able to pull those in.  Really should have been 7-7 the way we were driving.

 

Great to see Cook continue to find holes and get big gains.  

 

Tre is a step slow right now.  I don't know much about ACL injuries, but I have heard people say it takes time.  

 

Not even the Beasley of 2 years ago catches that one. Just a poor pass that sailed on Josh. Remember Josh can sometimes be a little over-amped on his opening drive.  Tre won't be 100% until next season.  We just have to hope Von doesn't favor his knee too?

[JerseyBills]

On 1/3/2023 at 11:17 AM, Robert Paulson said:

i didn't understand why they were blitzing either.  Burrow is the least efficient against a 3 man rush and fully zone- why did we do the opposite?

 

I said that in the gameday thread 

 

Thought we were trying to fool them early 

[newcam2012]

1 hour ago, special-teams said:

The Bengals were the much better team.  It could have been an embarrassing blow-out.

That's debatable. Both offenses looked really good while neither defense looked very porous. Certainly, the Bengals had a pretty good edge being at home leading

7-3 and moving down for a likely score. 

 

There was too much football to go to really say what the outcome would have been with any certainty. I myself don't think the Bills would have gotten blow out. However, I do think Bengals would have won the game.

[Eastport bills]

On 1/3/2023 at 11:20 AM, Generic_Bills_Fan said:

What makes you say Allen was going to be pressured?  The bills offensive line was absolutely obliterating the bengals in the running and passing game. That was certainly headed for a shootout and I would’ve had my money on buffalo honestly…bills are pretty much unstoppable when they can run the football and I’d take the bills getting one or two stops over the bengals doing so seeing as Burrow is immobile and their RT was horrendous and getting away with obvious holds the whole first drive 

 

If the bills had the first possession and punted, maybe you get into the discussions about them potentially being too far behind to come back with the defense struggling to get stops.  But as it stood I see no reason to assume the bills wouldn’t have marched right down the field and matched a bengals td 

My problem with the defense on the 1st two drives was Burrow had time to throw and our corners with Johnson in nickel, couldn’t cover these talented receivers. If we get them again, Sean and Frazier will have to mix in some zone and rush 3 or 4 tops on passing situations. We are not a team that slows receivers at the line and we cannot expect these corners to to handle man coverage on all of these top vertical threats, along with a pass catching Hurst at TE. Winning a shootout and or the turnover battle, seems like our best chance. This team is a tougher matchup than KC.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

3 minutes ago, Eastport bills said:

My problem with the defense on the 1st two drives was Burrow had time to throw and our corners with Johnson in nickel, couldn’t cover these talented receivers. If we get them again, Sean and Frazier will have to mix in some zone and rush 3 or 4 tops on passing situations. We are not a team that slows receivers at the line and we cannot expect these corners to to handle man coverage on all of these top vertical threats, along with a pass catching Hurst at TE. Winning a shootout and or the turnover battle, seems like our best chance. This team is a tougher matchup than KC.

We were testing their patchwork oline and winning imo but not getting the calls.  The bengals oline was holding like crazy.  Either we would’ve started going home as the game went on or Frazier would’ve gone away from the blitz…either way that game was gonna change.  It’s impossible to predict what would’ve happened though of course.   

[Eastport bills]

3 minutes ago, Generic_Bills_Fan said:

We were testing their patchwork oline and winning imo but not getting the calls.  The bengals oline was holding like crazy.  Either we would’ve started going home as the game went on or Frazier would’ve gone away from the blitz…either way that game was gonna change.  It’s impossible to predict what would’ve happened though of course.   

Not saying we would have looked as inept as we did through 9 minutes, but they were attacking our weakness, the secondary. They have talented receivers, and a running game..With a fearless, accomplished QB, they’re a handful.They couldn’t stop us either so it might have come down to turnovers or keeping it close and getting the ball last.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

7 minutes ago, Eastport bills said:

Not saying we would have looked as inept as we did through 9 minutes, but they were attacking our weakness, the secondary. They have talented receivers, and a running game..With a fearless, accomplished QB, they’re a handful.They couldn’t stop us either so it might have come down to turnovers or keeping it close and getting the ball last.

Yea we were blitzing a lot though and we would not have continued blitzing if our guys were just getting held and nothing was being done about it.  So it’s pretty hard to extrapolate that offensive drive and a half from the bengals into a full game. The defensive philosophy absolutely would’ve changed.  Our defense always improves as the game goes on too
 

I think it would’ve been a shootout with the refs continuing to swallow their whistles on holds on the OL and the bengals are more likely to give up a big sack/turnover.  I still liked our chances…our oline was steamrolling them and we must’ve had some faith in the defense to not go for that 4th and 3.   It’s impossible to say though.

 

I don’t see cincy navigating their way through the afc playoffs…they’re loaded at the skill positions but pretty weak in the trenches due in large part to some key injuries.  I’d be more worried about kc still who is much stronger in the trenches.  They’re both good teams though no question 

Edited January 5, 2023 by Generic_Bills_Fan

[UKBillFan]

18 hours ago, special-teams said:

The Bengals were the much better team.  It could have been an embarrassing blow-out.

 

The Bengals were 22-0 up against the Patriots in week 16. Remind me what happened in the second half? Was it a blow out?

[Big Turk]

18 hours ago, special-teams said:

The Bengals were the much better team.  It could have been an embarrassing blow-out.

 

Manual Buzzerrrrrrrrrrr....wrong.

[Bookie Man]

I think it was going to be a 40-34 type game

[UKBillFan]

54 minutes ago, ßookie_tech said:

I think it was going to be a 40-34 type game

 

Looked like it. But look how the Bengals offense stalled in the second half against the Pats. And the Bills have had moments of offensive struggles too. I think it would have been a shootout but who knows?

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

On 1/3/2023 at 11:17 AM, Robert Paulson said:

i didn't understand why they were blitzing either.  Burrow is the least efficient against a 3 man rush and fully zone- why did we do the opposite?

 

Because the Bills haven’t been consistently generating a pass rush w/ their  D-line since the Jets (do the Bears really count?) Some people have been downplaying the Von Miller injury a lot. 

35 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

 

Looked like it. But look how the Bengals offense stalled in the second half against the Pats. And the Bills have had moments of offensive struggles too. I think it would have been a shootout but who knows?

Most likely. Bills were moving it great until Beasley dropped a 3rd down pass that hit him right in the hands.

 

Edit: Random question for anybody that knows. Do players still their stats credited for a suspended game? 

Edited January 6, 2023 by ChronicAndKnuckles

[Straight Hucklebuck]

1 hour ago, special-teams said:

Cook is looking like a tremendous back with speed and toughness

And LOW mileage heading into the Playoffs

[Governor]

This was about to be the Bengals version of our perfect game vs. New England. They were blowing us away. No half time adjustment was slowing them down that night.