Let's talk about the Cincinnati Bengals (AFC Championship Edition)

[TLO]

Discussion

[The Franchise]

#chiefs expected to have S Tyrann Mathieu (concussion) tomorrow for the AFC title game per source.

— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) January 30, 2022

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by The Franchise

#chiefs expected to have S Tyrann Mathieu (concussion) tomorrow for the AFC title game per source.

— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) January 30, 2022

Thank you God.

[stevegroganfan]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

I’m hesitant to say drafting Lance was the wrong move until we actually see him play. Plenty of people criticized the Mahomes pick during his “redshirt” year.

As of now though, Parsons or Chase on that roster might be enough to get them to the Super Bowl. Looks like the wrong move right now.

I won't play Monday morning QB and say they should have drafted Parsons or Chase even though both were super highly regarded in the draft.

I'm not even criticizing decision to draft Lance since I will be the first to suggest he has legit upside and Jimmy G for all of his winning with the Niners has been proven to be injury prone but just how far the Niners moved up for him. The cost to move up considering were the Niners were starting from was not cheap. Most people had him as the 4th or 5th QB selected at the time the Niners made the trade.

When Chiefs traded up for Mahomes, they only moved up as far as they had to. They didn't move up to 3. And realistically Chiefs more desperate for QB upgrade given Alex Smith's age.

[hoosierbengal]

[QUOTE=KChiefs1;16115576]The Bengals’ right side of the offensive line is a major liability for them no matter what.

Their second-year offensive lineman Hakeem Adeniji has allowed a 7.1% pressure rate (69th out of 84 qualifying guards since week nine) and their right tackle Isaiah Prince has allowed pressure on 8.9% of his pass-blocking assignments. This is all according to PFF who also rank the right side of Cincinnati’s offensive line in the bottom five of almost every major category.

I sure don’t need PFF to tell me how bad the right side of our oline is. Rieff wasn’t all world at RT but his injury has really left a hole in a already shaky line. Center, RG and RT are a problem. The thing is they don’t run black much better than they pass block. Mixon hasn’t averaged over 4 yards a carry since week 12. I think a running game is needed if the Bengals are gonna upset your Chiefs. You are not supposed to get this far with a bad oline. I know many will say they have had a easy road to this point but even at that you generally need the oline to perform better. Look at what your oline injuries did to you in the Super Bowl last year.

[stevegroganfan]

Originally Posted by Superturtle

Meh. Our defense hasn't been all that good lately outside of getting to play Roethlisberger. Even Denver smacked them around a bit. Onus is on the offense this game moreso than usual because Burrow is going to get his, especially with Chase and co.

The Chiefs defense was pretty darn good against Buffalo considering the Bills scored every time against New England. Even if Patriots defense by that point of the season was below average, scoring a TD on every possession in the cold is impressive.

On the other hand, the Chiefs forced Bills to punt 4 times. Allen played a truly amazing game but the Bills offense didn't do nearly as well without the ball in Allen's hands. His teammates let him down a bit but Chiefs defense also needs to be credited for that. Chiefs got a big sack to force Buffalo to punt and that sack wasn't really Allen's fault like Burrow was legitimately to blame for a few of his sacks last week. One possession Buffalo ran 3 times without Allen running it and it was 3 and out. Another possession, it was 2nd and 2 after an Allen pass and the defense stopped the next 2 non Allen runs.

I suspect the real reason Buffalo didn't risk having Allen throw ever more is Chiefs got pretty good pressure and were winning at the line of scrimmage more often than not. The threat of Allen running up the middle is one thing that slowed down the Chiefs line from attacking even more. Allen had to go Cam Newton to get them some key first downs since Bills coach really didn't trust his running backs or receivers enough to pick up the yards.

I really thought that for the most part, Chiefs defense was at least good. The pressure on Allen was good to very good on most plays. He didn't have all day to throw like he did against the Patriots. The Chiefs secondary was good considering the circumstances but just need to credit Allen for making some great throws.

The advantage Cincy has is Cincy receivers > Buffalo receivers. No one in his right mind wouldn't take Chase over Diggs. And Cincy may learn from Buffalo mistakes and Cincy being toughened up by Titans defense may help their offense return to form a little bit. But there is no getting around that the Chiefs should win both lines of scrimmage.

The way I see it, Chiefs will in all likelihood make the SB and be 2.5 point favorites over the Rams or be even bigger favorites over the Niners.

[SeattleChiefFan]

Why was I completely confident about this game all week and now suddenly I’m nervous as ****?

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by DRM08

All of that is true, but Cincy is still capable of winning this weekend. Mahomes got lucky on a couple of throws that should have been picked against Cincy last time. He needs to play cleaner this time. The defense needs to play a lot better.

Remember how Mahomes played against Buffalo the first time? You saw how he played the second time. Playoff Mahomes is on another level.

[stevegroganfan]

[QUOTE=hoosierbengal;16115675]

Originally Posted by KChiefs1

The Bengals’ right side of the offensive line is a major liability for them no matter what.

Their second-year offensive lineman Hakeem Adeniji has allowed a 7.1% pressure rate (69th out of 84 qualifying guards since week nine) and their right tackle Isaiah Prince has allowed pressure on 8.9% of his pass-blocking assignments. This is all according to PFF who also rank the right side of Cincinnati’s offensive line in the bottom five of almost every major category.

I sure don’t need PFF to tell me how bad the right side of our oline is. Rieff wasn’t all world at RT but his injury has really left a hole in a already shaky line. Center, RG and RT are a problem. The thing is they don’t run black much better than they pass block. Mixon hasn’t averaged over 4 yards a carry since week 12. I think a running game is needed if the Bengals are gonna upset your Chiefs. You are not supposed to get this far with a bad oline. I know many will say they have had a easy road to this point but even at that you generally need the oline to perform better. Look at what your oline injuries did to you in the Super Bowl last year.

If Bengals had a dominant defense that matched up well with KC's speed, I think the Bengals could still win even with a bad offensive line if the Bengals played their cards right. Great receivers if they are good at short to intermediate routes with the right play calling can somewhat make up for losing the line of scrimmage. But it takes great play calling/QB play.

The good news for the Bengals is they have lots of cap room this offseason so no matter what happens, they have a chance to get better. But Burrow is right, you obviously try to take advantage of every opportunity you get.

As a neutral fan between the Bills and Bengals at least, I think next year the Bengals are better positioned to be the primary threat against the Chiefs than the Bills.

The Bills are going to have to try to sign FAs/impact players on the cheap. Not many trades in the NFL but Bills may be best served long term by making a few bold trades. There are probably others but the only NFL player I can see joining the Bills on the cheap is Rob Gronkowski if he plays another year and Brady retires as expected. He grew up rooting for Bills and is from that area and Bucs may want to get younger.

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by stevegroganfan

The Chiefs defense was pretty darn good against Buffalo considering the Bills scored every time against New England. Even if Patriots defense by that point of the season was below average, scoring a TD on every possession in the cold is impressive.

On the other hand, the Chiefs forced Bills to punt 4 times. Allen played a truly amazing game but the Bills offense didn't do nearly as well without the ball in Allen's hands. His teammates let him down a bit but Chiefs defense also needs to be credited for that. Chiefs got a big sack to force Buffalo to punt and that sack wasn't really Allen's fault like Burrow was legitimately to blame for a few of his sacks last week. One possession Buffalo ran 3 times without Allen running it and it was 3 and out. Another possession, it was 2nd and 2 after an Allen pass and the defense stopped the next 2 non Allen runs.

I suspect the real reason Buffalo didn't risk having Allen throw ever more is Chiefs got pretty good pressure and were winning at the line of scrimmage more often than not. The threat of Allen running up the middle is one thing that slowed down the Chiefs line from attacking even more. Allen had to go Cam Newton to get them some key first downs since Bills coach really didn't trust his running backs or receivers enough to pick up the yards.

I really thought that for the most part, Chiefs defense was at least good. The pressure on Allen was good to very good on most plays. He didn't have all day to throw like he did against the Patriots. The Chiefs secondary was good considering the circumstances but just need to credit Allen for making some great throws.

The advantage Cincy has is Cincy receivers > Buffalo receivers. No one in his right mind wouldn't take Chase over Diggs. And Cincy may learn from Buffalo mistakes and Cincy being toughened up by Titans defense may help their offense return to form a little bit. But there is no getting around that the Chiefs should win both lines of scrimmage.

The way I see it, Chiefs will in all likelihood make the SB and be 2.5 point favorites over the Rams or be even bigger favorites over the Niners.

Good write up. I will also say that had Mathieu not gone out after the first series, Davis doesn't get four TDs, at least a couple due to being wide open. Take those out and the game most likely isn't as close as it ended up being.

[tredadda]

[QUOTE=stevegroganfan;16115697]

Originally Posted by hoosierbengal

If Bengals had a dominant defense that matched up well with KC's speed, I think the Bengals could still win even with a bad offensive line if the Bengals played their cards right. Great receivers if they are good at short to intermediate routes with the right play calling can somewhat make up for losing the line of scrimmage. But it takes great play calling/QB play.

The good news for the Bengals is they have lots of cap room this offseason so no matter what happens, they have a chance to get better. But Burrow is right, you obviously try to take advantage of every opportunity you get.

As a neutral fan between the Bills and Bengals at least, I think next year the Bengals are better positioned to be the primary threat against the Chiefs than the Bills.

The Bills are going to have to try to sign FAs/impact players on the cheap. Not many trades in the NFL but Bills may be best served long term by making a few bold trades. There are probably others but the only NFL player I can see joining the Bills on the cheap is Rob Gronkowski if he plays another year and Brady retires as expected. He grew up rooting for Bills and is from that area and Bucs may want to get younger.

Has Gronk ever played without Brady?

[Rasputin]

Game thread better start in 4 minutes no less than 5

[stevegroganfan]

Originally Posted by tredadda

Good write up. I will also say that had Mathieu not gone out after the first series, Davis doesn't get four TDs, at least a couple due to being wide open. Take those out and the game most likely isn't as close as it ended up being.

I agree with you that Mathieu was missed and with him given the way the game played out probably not as close.

[stevegroganfan]

[QUOTE=tredadda;16115699]

Originally Posted by stevegroganfan

Has Gronk ever played without Brady?

Only a few games with backups like Jimmy G. I do think Gronk is willing to play without Brady but I don't think he is willing to play for small money on an average team and risk being overused. Better as 3rd or 4th option nowadays than the 2nd receiving option. Past his days of being good enough to be #1 option.

What Gronk does will be very interesting. For all of his goofiness, he doesn't strike me as an idiot so I can see him continuing to play but only in a good situation.

I don't think Tampa or any NFL team is a good situation if he doesn't think he can win there. He won't command enough money for him to be happy going 6-11 and being beat up.

[Chief Pagan]

Originally Posted by stevegroganfan

Only a few games with backups like Jimmy G. I do think Gronk is willing to play without Brady but I don't think he is willing to play for small money on an average team and risk being overused. Better as 3rd or 4th option nowadays than the 2nd receiving option. Past his days of being good enough to be #1 option.

What Gronk does will be very interesting. For all of his goofiness, he doesn't strike me as an idiot so I can see him continuing to play but only in a good situation.

I don't think Tampa or any NFL team is a good situation if he doesn't think he can win there. He won't command enough money for him to be happy going 6-11 and being beat up.

Bring him in for a look?

[ljmhawk]

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

Bring him in for a look?

i would. find out how much money he is wanting…wouldn’t hurt at all if he wanted to play with KC.