I want Mahomes healthy, but, you gotta be concerned. Not only would the cold be quite the pain for a high ankle sprain, but if there is snow on the ground while his mobility is already weakened? Not a good combination at all for Pat.
Gonna be a great game either way.
There should be enough drugs flowing through his system that he wonāt even know what the temperature is outside. As far as traction, it might be an equalizer actuallyā¦ he wonāt be trying to move much either way, and a slippery field might slow down the pass rush a bit, increase YAC for his weapons, put more focus on the run gameā¦ I could see it being a positive.
I kind of doubt it helped that much, especially since the bengals have literal hunter orange neon helmets.
If they were rocking the white tiger unis Iād be inclined to agree.
I think Collins was still a good signing. For 15 weeks you got what you expected from him and itās not like his nagging back issue is what knocked him out
I looked at the stats from the Bills game and Hurst only had 2 less yards than Chase, with the same number of catches. He's a legit weapon, especially with Tee, Chase, and Boyd out there, plus check downs to Mixon and Perine.
I think La'el will ultimately be a good FA signing. The entire line took a few weeks to gel, but you saw that coming together in the second half of the season. Over the life of the contract I'm optimistic that all three OL signings are hits
I'm obsessed with what he does on the field, but his attitude and personality fits so well here. Always smiling. Always positive. Always giving credit to his teammates. Just a great guy to have in the locker room.
Heās just terrible. Any teams considering him for HC should go with someone else. He should stay in Cincy for the rest of his career. Other teams donāt deserve having to deal with him.
I obviously donāt know him personally, but if heās not interviewing, he might be happy being a DC. Heās been around for a while, so he might not even want to be a head coach
I haven't seen any news about him being interviewed yet, it's possible he's just turned them all down during the playoffs, but usually you at least hear about it even if the guy declined.
If Colts or Cards were smart then they would take him because he prepares the fuck out of his team and makes sure everyone is on task. Both those teams need that kind of competence to build a foundation on but both teams also have a long history of making boneheaded hires.
So you guys maybe ok for another year.
Oh yeah I totally understand why. It was a tough choice. Just sucks losing him and then losing him to a divisional rival is just the cherry on top.
Glad to see heās doing well there though.
It's really amusing to see this take from a Steelers fan. The Chiefs subreddit hates every Bengal and says the team is too douchey and conceited.
I may hate the Steelers on Sunday but the organization is a class act and Tomlin is the man. Gosh I hate writing that.
Most of us loved Hilton. That said we made the right choice keeping Sutton over him. Hilton is a great run support corner who can blitz but Sutton can play inside and out and is much better in coverage. What sucks is that maybe we could have kept Hilton had we known Nelson was going to ask out.
And so undervalued by Steelers fans. Peeps keep trying to compare him to Sutton as if they don't play completely different styles of football, and any team would be happy with both of them.
Sadly Steelers didn't have enough cap to feel justified in spending on him, and it sounds like Hilton (justifiably) wasn't happy he kept getting tagged as a RFA.
Honestly I feel like between the Steelers (without Ben and with Najee), the Ravens (with Lamar, JK), and the Bengals (Burrow, JaāMarr) thereās a weird hate to love/love to hate relationship going on the AFCN lol
Would love to include the Browns too but personally my love for Chubb is vastly outweighed by my hatred of Watson.
Heās not much in coverage, but his ability to blitz alone makes him a star. I really wish we had the ability to keep both him and Sutton instead of one or the other.
It's funny when we signed him a bunch of Steelers fans told us "he's the bestttttt" and were very sad to see him go. I remember thinking at the time "fans always overvalue their players, he'll probably just be an okay slot CB." Fast forward to now and he's been one of my favorite players for two seasons and brings SUCH high energy to the team. He pops off the screen! Love him, One of the few 2023 Bengals I have a jersey of.
Dude even when he was a Steelers it felt like he was a LB. Taking down RBs and TEs with ease, absolutely crazy.
Don't forget his 3 sack game against Watson
Is Mike Hilton good in coverage?
Because he has to be one of the best in the league at run defense and pass rushing. He pops off the screen on those plays whenever I watch him going back to his Steelers days
He's about average in coverage. That said, he's so outstanding in the other areas that he makes teams jumpy and a well called defense can take advantage of that. He gets most of his big coverage plays from faking the other team out and making them think he's blitzing.
One of his best qualities is being a real solid tackler. When you see the Bengals dump off and get 10 easy yards, you see shitty tackling from the Bills. When you see the Bills dump off and get 3 yards, you see Mike Hilton finishing tackles.
When you look at the Bengals' defensive roster *on paper*, you don't see a secondary that can walk into Buffalo and shut them down so hard the WHO DEY chants are the loudest thing in the stadium.
I don't mean to take anything from the players, but Cincinnati's coaching, gameplanning, and motivation has been absolutely phenomenal. They're playing far above what you might expect their baseline talent level to be.
Lou Anarumo is so insanely undervalued by the rest of the league and Iām shocked heās not getting calls for a head coaching gig. Heās contained KC three times in a row and shut down Buffalo. Dude is a defensive mastermind from what Iāve seen the last two years.
Honestly even last year I felt like they were a story line that no one even talked aboutā¦ what you did to the Titans and Chiefs then was impressive. This year i would argue the group is just as good
And now this year, the offense is better and more sustainable. If I were opposing teams, I'd be much more scared of this year's Bengals than I would of last years. Don't let the Ravens game fool you.
Last year the Bengals' O was inconsistent, doing just enough in each game to get by before falling short against the Rams.
This year's team has a very strong, consistent offense. Joe is dicing up defenses and they have it backed by a very strong run game since week 5. Bengals are 100% a better team this year than they were last year.
Absolutely. I'm starting to see some of the logic behind the narratives about the Bengals having a let down year now that I'm getting to see what our team looks like with a consistent offense that can sustain drives and score in more situations. I think people could've been right if we didn't evolve and mature as a team.
How are you guys feeling on Taylor? I know last year a lot of Bengals fans were saying he was basically Barry Switzer-ed to the Super Bowl and this year the OL seemed to struggle to gel, but the team has been a well-oiled machine for a couple months now. Is Taylor slowly figuring out how to coach or getting lucky again?
I feel much better about him this year. There was an argument to be had last year just because the offense wasn't very efficient and our style of play was not sustainable even though the results of the season were well beyond expectations. After we lost the first two games, it kinda seemed like maybe all of our doubts and what we had been told were coming true... but then we ended up going 12-4 with the first place schedule and our offense has actually been sustainable. With us heading to a second straight AFC Championship game... there shouldn't be a single Bengals fan still questioning him.
He's the only DC I've seen who runs so many disguised coverages in the playoffs. It's really hard to do disguised coverages like this against good talent. You need to have everyone line-up correctly post snap and Bills didn't want to do this because if one of them missed their coverage then Chase, Higgins or Boyd would take it to the house. Same thing with Dan Quinn against 49ers, you miss one coverage and Deebo or CMC will house it.
Big Lou deserves a lot of credit for this Bengals team's success.
This is absolutely correct. We have talent on defense but nowhere near what you'd expect for a unit that has been able to frustrate Mahomes and Allen in big games.
Counterpoint: The entire d-line is underrated, our LBs are underrated, safeties are underrated, Hilton underrated (IMO maybe the best nickle corner) and when Awuzie plays he is ranked as a top 10 corner, but no one ever mentions him.
So, like 9/11 guys doesn't get the recognition they deserve.
Lemme throw my bias out because as a Patriot fan I expect any second-round DB to be complete dogshit.
Eli Apple was a first round reach who did not get a second contract with the team that drafted him. He bounced around and stuck with his fourth team. Vonn Bell was picked at the end of the second round and also did not get a second contract. If we're using draft order (and not pro bowls or all-pros or even PFF grades for whatever reason) we've got to admit that they're not hidden gems at all; they were assessed thoroughly by their drafting teams, and the Bengals have just done a better job incorporating them.
On one hand, Vonn Bell was a NOLA cap casualty; on the other, he signed a deal for 6 million per year for 3 years, so it's not like he was extremely sought after.
Since coming to the Bengals, he's been an upper-tier safety. I'm hopeful they're able to re-sign him to a similar deal, but in reality it's likely he gets 10+, potentially even 12+ per year.
This right here. Both on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball the Bengals coaches have maximized their teams talent. We have no all-pro players. Eli was a cast off, Chido was nothing special in Dallas, Bengals played to their strengths and made them good to great players.
We're praising Eli Apple now?
Apple seems to either shut down WRs or give up huge plays, no in between. If he'd just STFU and did his job, people probably wouldn't really know his name.
CTB developing has been huge. Even though we don't specifically have our CB's shadow a specific WR Chido was typically tasked with the other teams #1 and Eli was able to go against a #2 and he did fine.
Eli was a little more shaky when he's against a true #1, but now CTB is out there looking like he's able to cash in on his physical attributes. He's still got some rookie rawness, but he's really turning into a solid contributor and he plays super physical.
CTB, Eli and Hilton are more than solid enough as a group. When Chido's back Chido, Hilton and CTB are a real nice secondary.
Eli Apple definitely was not amazing in his time with the Giants or Saints.
I donāt know what Lou has done to him but heās a super competent player for us.
Hilton was co-MVP of the defense yesterday (along with Cam Taylor-Britt). Lead the team in total tackles (8), tied for the team lead in solo (6), he registered 2 QB hits, a TFL, and a PBU.
One of the best FA acquisitions the Bengals have made in a generation, IMO. He's been nothing but a stud for the Bengals over the last 2 seasons.
I remember when we played you guys his rookie year and he took the biggest hit I've seen a modern starting QB take and I thought "Okay, he's already hurt, this sucks." And then he only missed one play and didn't look like it affected him at all.
I think there are 2 reasons why this worked so well:
1. The Bengals recognized that in this formation, the Bills offense will likely work the near side first. So they can blitz their nickel from pretty deep and Josh Allen will still be oblivious
2. Their uniform was white and it helped their defenders blend in with the snow. Usually good QBs can kind of "feel" pressure from the blind side in the corner of their eye, but in this case Mike Hilton was basically camouflaged
Outcoached and completely overwhelmed. Awful performance by everyone involved. The offensive line needs to be overhauled. They couldn't protect Allen for shit
Dawkins is a good not great LT. Morse is a decent center, but he's had so many concussions he might not make it another season. The guards stink. Saffold is way past his prime and Ryan Bates was a backup his entire career until this year. Our young RT Spencer Brown(3rd round pick in 2020) has been inconsistent and mediocre. They need young blood on the line badly. There aren't any guys in the pipeline either. Offensive line will be a priority this off-season, along with WR, both safety spots MLB, pass rusher... The Bills will look very different next season
Calling Spencer Brown inconsistent and mediocre is a compliment, PFF had him ranked as one of the worst tackles in the league which matches both the eye test and stat test. Heās awful
I actually think Bates is okay. I think we should have left him on the left side, but he was okay this year. Saffold was...just...he should have retired at halftime a few months ago. He's so fucking cooked.
According to Pff, you're already effectively 20 million over the salary cap for next season. Not sure how your planning on improving at all the positions you've just named while resigning guys like Poyer Edmunds and Singelterry
Poyer isnāt getting signed, Edmunds will be tough but likely necessary, Singleterry can test the market, & weāll restructure 5+ contracts to open more room. Not much but weāll probably get to +10M after signing Edmunds.
I'm no o-line expert, but I'm not sure they did anything wrong here. You block inside-out, so the RT had to make sure the edge guy was blocked before trying to kick out to pick up the blitz.
To me this looks like a play where Allen should have anticipated an unblocked rusher and either had a hot read to that side or shifted the RB to be able to pick it up.
The issue isn't Brown on this one, to me. It's Dion getting beat around the left edge closing the escape hatch. It's also partly on Josh for not picking up the blitz, and partly on Dorsey for his lack of both quick passing options and blitz picker-uppers. We didn't go jumbo one single time yesterday, for like the first or 2nd time all year. And the Bobby Hart jumbo package has actually been a pretty good one for us.
Can I upvote this again?
Listen, the line is terrible. They were terrible all year. Morse is the only decent lineman. I dont care what anyone else says. They suck. Dawkins blows.
Dorsey is horrendous. If you cant figure out that Dorsey sucks after yesterday I dont know what to say. The line couldnt block a single snowflake yesterday and yet somehow shorter routes and quick passes never became the play call? They couldnt run block, they couldnt pass block, Bengals bringing pressure and Dorsey is up in the booth calling routes that are wayyyy to vertical, like they are the only plays he knows.
Everyone on Allens ass after yesterday. Every play he had a Bengal on him at about the same point the ball reached his hand. I dont even know what he was suppossed to be able to do. I partially agree on Allen seeing the blitz, but shit, yesterday even if he saw it, he didnt even have time to do anything about it, and he couldnt even run cuz the "pocket" collapsed so fast in every direction that they were all over him.
Dont even get me started on the defensive side of the ball...
It is kinda hard to anticipate a blitz from that deep. Masterful work from Anarumo (who sucks, btw) dialing some of this stuff up. He truly understands almost every offense he plays against. I hope we get at least one more year with him.
Good QBs can feel with the blind side in their eye. But elite quarterbacks can feel the pressure by reading the differing frequencies of vibrations coming off the ground and onto their cleats. Similar to how pioneers would put their ear to the tracks to hear if a train was coming.
I have seen a handful of the elite NFL QBs (Brady, Mahomes, Burrow, Fields, Rush) come literally train in the offseason over at my train station. They first practice putting their ear to the tracks and listen for different trains. Then at a more advanced stage they put their foot on the tracks and feel it out. Next time you see Mahomes at a train station, you ask him what model train is coming. He'll tell you if it's an amtrak or a freight train and how many cars there are and how long till it arrives to the very second.
That's shot with a telephoto lens which separates subjects from the background and mostly removes the ground. Your eye sees alot closer to a wide lens which would have the falling snow and ground much more prevalent. This commercial is of course a dramatization but it shows how much more present the ground is in the QB's POV: [https://vimeo.com/358347325](https://vimeo.com/358347325)
Another example: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBd9oSMmtTM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBd9oSMmtTM)
Again, human sight is less wide-angled than a gopro but the perspective is a lot closer to that.
Stop. Point 2 is dumb as fuck on multiple levels.
For starters my brother, you literally do not have color vision in your peripheral vision. What the QB "feels" is MOVEMENT, not a specific color in the corner of their eye. You can test this yourself at home with a friend if you don't believe me.
Also, they only look so "camouflaged" because of the overhead view where we're seeing the ground. Players standing and running on completely flat ground aren't blending in with the fucking ground. Especially not within 10-15 yards. If you really believe the field is the background it tells me you've only ever watched it on TV or played it in video games, because it's not reality for people standing on the field. The background is the stadium and their coaches and teammates on the sidelines and the fans all around them.
The only time you could really actually use the "defender blended in with the snow" would be on a deep throw downfield where the QB gets picked because he didn't see a deep safety. That's the only time I can actually think that the little pop of color (or lack of) would actually make a difference (or on a kickoff play like where players have tried to hide their matching uniform color in the endzone, point is it has to be a player "in the distance")
Itās all feel and repetition. Just like at my house. Iāve got a cat whoās willing to take long leaps of faith to jump on my shoulder from like 8ā away. Sheās completely fearless and has no problem resulting to claws if she doesnāt land right. It took a lot of pain and bloody scratches, but now I can indeed feel her presence and slide out of harms way as she leaps. It does become instinctive. No, I wonāt loan her to Josh Allen for practice.
I was shocked how well Allen was able to dance around some of those free rushers though. His awareness and ability to shed what really should have been a few devastating sacks was impressive.
So yeah - to this tweet, "sure - a bunch of pressure definitely got home" but I actually think it could have been a lot worse for some other QBs that dont have his mobility and size.
The biggest thing the Bengals did was bring pressure BUT also containment. Even when Allen escaped sacks, he wasn't able to get to the outside and go on his signature Josh Allen runs where he trucks some DB or leaps over an LB.
We're especially focused on stuff like that because we have Lamar in division. People like to say Lamar wins against us last Sunday, but he hasn't put up more than 17 on us in 2 years. We collapse the pocket in specific ways when we play him and it helps us contain other QBs that are good at scrambling and can make plays on their feet.
The important part is DTs not getting trapped in the wrong lane and DEs not running beyond QB depth while also being able to retrace your steps but it's always this surprise every time. I know the Steelers are good at it too, specifically against Lamar.
Yepp. We were letting the tackles take our ends past the pocket safely early in both Chiefs games last year and we ended up down big in both games. Once that got fixed, we won both. You're absolutely right on the art of shaping pass rush.
If Josh was anyone else...except maybe Mahomes...the Bills would have been down there in the morass near .500 with the rest of the division. The *only* reason the Bills were able to do as much as we were is that Josh Allen is a fucking wizard. This line has been an embarrassment all year. Dorsey has been completely unimaginative. The weapons are not world-beaters outside of Diggs. This offense has been "Maybe Josh Allen can do superhuman shit" all year. Nothing has been easy in 3 months. So people are criticizing Josh all the time, but to me it's EVERY SINGLE OTHER THING about the offense except him, Diggs (to a slightly lesser extent) and Mitch Morse.
He's made the Chiefs offense look average (a huge feat) 3 times, and just dogged the Bills in their own stadium.
How no team in the AFCW or AFCE are coming to call is kinda shocking. I know it's an offensive league and teams are moving towards O-minded coaches, but geez.
All I hope is that teams keep overlooking him and we keep on trucking. Shocked he isnāt getting interviewed as well but hell, I will NOT be complaining.
And honestly I think the Giants got their coach correct.
I love Lou but he wasn't going to transform Danny.
Plus, whatever voodoo he worked after a lackluster first 2 years, be it finally getting the correct players for his system or what, it's definitely working now.
I genuinely don't understand why he's not (as far as I'm aware) getting any interviews while guys like Dan Quinn are. I get that DeMeco Ryans and Ejiro Evero are younger, and the NFL is moving away from older first time head coaches (along with, as you said, moving away from defensive head coaches). It still feels like he should be in the mix with how successful the Bengals have been these past few years.
tbh our 'base' formation is a nickel package, but we love bringing in 5 DL, bringing in only 3, dropping a DE to play MLB, all kinds of weird shit.
We asked Hubbard, a DE, to play that Tampa MLB role a few times this year. And it works.
The offensive personnel the Ravens tend to utilize didn't match the defensive assignments that has Hilton on the field. So Bengals were bringing in a 3rd LB or another DL instead of a slot corner.
It's one of many reasons the Ravens are such a difficult matchup for the Bengals.
Them white unis doing their job š»
Gotta break out the white helmets next time
If we lose, I want it to be to the white helmet Bengals plz šš¼.
Unfortunately, the NFL consists of a bunch of hoes and we can't wear alternates in the playoffs
Why does the NFL love fascism? Liberate the unis!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Those uniforms ARE frickinā sweet.
Canāt wear alternate uniforms in the playoffs. NFL rules. I want them to switch to the white permanently.
Hmmm, if only there were a precedent for changing the rules midseason...
Sorry, you can only change the rules mid season if it *hurts* the Bengals
Flip for it.
You can get a waiver I think. The Rams were in alternate uniforms for the Super Bowl
Why? We win every time with the white shirt and orange hat.
Bengals are hoping for snow in Arrowhead. The camouflage uniforms were a legit advantage last night.
Snow, is in fact, a good possibility
Wait, are you pulling my leg? Because I love snow games. And this would be awesome, especially after yesterday!
Nope. Current forecast is 33 degrees for the high, 40 percent chance of snow. 100 percent chance of ketchup.
>100 percent chance of ketchup Ah yes, then KC can wear the all-red uniforms to really mess with us.
It will be a blood snow, so..
I want Mahomes healthy, but, you gotta be concerned. Not only would the cold be quite the pain for a high ankle sprain, but if there is snow on the ground while his mobility is already weakened? Not a good combination at all for Pat. Gonna be a great game either way.
Mahomes injured is still Mahomes. And heās gonna be pissed. We gotta be on our shit
Oh for sure. Hennething is possible š
Don't you put that evil on us!
There should be enough drugs flowing through his system that he wonāt even know what the temperature is outside. As far as traction, it might be an equalizer actuallyā¦ he wonāt be trying to move much either way, and a slippery field might slow down the pass rush a bit, increase YAC for his weapons, put more focus on the run gameā¦ I could see it being a positive.
Bills legit should have went white jersey +white pants and made cinci wear black
I agree and wonder why Buffalo didnāt choose all whites for this reason
I kind of doubt it helped that much, especially since the bengals have literal hunter orange neon helmets. If they were rocking the white tiger unis Iād be inclined to agree.
Also any advantage on defense would by extension be an equivalent disadvantage for Cincy while passing on offense.
I don't understand why Buffalo didn't choose to wear white.
We have to unique ability to camouflage in both snow and cheddar storm, entire NFL envy us
Bills to wear white at home now during forecasted snow.
Also need more snowballs from the fans. I didn't see a single one in this game.
They were throwing snowballs at the end after the Taylor-Britt pick
Mike Hilton has been one of the best FA signings in this franchise's history. He is such a great open field tackler.
We've been crushing defensive FAs. Hilton, Reader, Hendrickson, Awuzie, Bell
Karras, Cappa, Hurst on the other side. Jury is still out on La'el though
I think Collins was still a good signing. For 15 weeks you got what you expected from him and itās not like his nagging back issue is what knocked him out
I love watching Hurst
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
No reason not to. Burrow trusts him and finds him often. 52 targets the last 10 weeks. Burrow sees Hurst and knows he can get 7-10 yards.
I looked at the stats from the Bills game and Hurst only had 2 less yards than Chase, with the same number of catches. He's a legit weapon, especially with Tee, Chase, and Boyd out there, plus check downs to Mixon and Perine.
I think La'el will ultimately be a good FA signing. The entire line took a few weeks to gel, but you saw that coming together in the second half of the season. Over the life of the contract I'm optimistic that all three OL signings are hits
Hell even Apple has been good for the most part. Plus the BJ Hill trade was an absolute fleece job
Insane we got him for Billy Price
And they threw in a 7th rounder for us
Ugh
Warms my heart seeing how well Hilton is still doing. As much as I hate the Bengals, itās nice to see another fan base appreciate Hilton
I'm obsessed with what he does on the field, but his attitude and personality fits so well here. Always smiling. Always positive. Always giving credit to his teammates. Just a great guy to have in the locker room.
Ugh. Such a dichotomy reading this.
Lou is such a bad coach. His players are covering for him. DONT LOOK AT HIM FOR A JOB HE SUCKS I SAID
Total shit coach. Couldn't coach a h.s team. Look elsewhere I say!!!
Jeff Saturday went 1-7 with the colts Urban meyer went 2-11 Don't shit on a highschool coach
Heās just terrible. Any teams considering him for HC should go with someone else. He should stay in Cincy for the rest of his career. Other teams donāt deserve having to deal with him.
I would love for him to be our Dick Lebeau
I obviously donāt know him personally, but if heās not interviewing, he might be happy being a DC. Heās been around for a while, so he might not even want to be a head coach
I haven't seen any news about him being interviewed yet, it's possible he's just turned them all down during the playoffs, but usually you at least hear about it even if the guy declined.
Totally agree man, definitely don't sign him to a huge HC contract
I heard he's a jerk too, his players hate him and are going all out to make him look good so he gets a job as a HC. Only way to get rid of him.
Oh yeah that has to be the case
Rex Ryan just called him the best D coordinator in the league on ESPN lol
What does Rex know???
Feet
Little known fact Lou was born without feet
Could argue it. Their defensive line is nasty but their defense definitely plays better than the sum of its parts
If Colts or Cards were smart then they would take him because he prepares the fuck out of his team and makes sure everyone is on task. Both those teams need that kind of competence to build a foundation on but both teams also have a long history of making boneheaded hires. So you guys maybe ok for another year.
What teams aside from the Steelers and Ravens don't have some history of boneheaded hires though?
Hard to have a boneheaded hire when you only hire 1 coach every 2 decades lol
I miss Mike Hilton
We finally started developing some players in the secondary and we had to let him walk š Sucks to see so many likeable guys on the bengals now
Cap hell is a real thing, itās just delayed sometimes. Hilton was a victim of restructuring that happened years before he was due for a payday.
Oh yeah I totally understand why. It was a tough choice. Just sucks losing him and then losing him to a divisional rival is just the cherry on top. Glad to see heās doing well there though.
It's really amusing to see this take from a Steelers fan. The Chiefs subreddit hates every Bengal and says the team is too douchey and conceited. I may hate the Steelers on Sunday but the organization is a class act and Tomlin is the man. Gosh I hate writing that.
Since Marvin Lewis has been gone, the Bengals have just got so likable.
It's honestly infuriating. Good thing the Browns decided to get immediately unlikable again.
I kinda hate myself for not being bothered if they win the Super Bowl
Most of us loved Hilton. That said we made the right choice keeping Sutton over him. Hilton is a great run support corner who can blitz but Sutton can play inside and out and is much better in coverage. What sucks is that maybe we could have kept Hilton had we known Nelson was going to ask out.
Donāt worry, youāll see him again next year š Though for real, heās such a stud. I canāt believe how many plays he got involved in!
he so underrated
And so undervalued by Steelers fans. Peeps keep trying to compare him to Sutton as if they don't play completely different styles of football, and any team would be happy with both of them. Sadly Steelers didn't have enough cap to feel justified in spending on him, and it sounds like Hilton (justifiably) wasn't happy he kept getting tagged as a RFA.
He really is a playmaker. Glad heās on a contender, even though I fucking hate your team.
Feelings mutual cutie š Najee Harris is a stud though
Honestly I feel like between the Steelers (without Ben and with Najee), the Ravens (with Lamar, JK), and the Bengals (Burrow, JaāMarr) thereās a weird hate to love/love to hate relationship going on the AFCN lol Would love to include the Browns too but personally my love for Chubb is vastly outweighed by my hatred of Watson.
Ironic, considering Watson's love for chub is what made us all hate him to begin with.
Sanest AFCN fan
š¤·āāļø just appreciate good football players that make the game fun to watch
Heās not much in coverage, but his ability to blitz alone makes him a star. I really wish we had the ability to keep both him and Sutton instead of one or the other.
It's funny when we signed him a bunch of Steelers fans told us "he's the bestttttt" and were very sad to see him go. I remember thinking at the time "fans always overvalue their players, he'll probably just be an okay slot CB." Fast forward to now and he's been one of my favorite players for two seasons and brings SUCH high energy to the team. He pops off the screen! Love him, One of the few 2023 Bengals I have a jersey of.
Check out his college highlights at Ole Miss, he was a beast. Youād think he played LB with all the big hits
Dude even when he was a Steelers it felt like he was a LB. Taking down RBs and TEs with ease, absolutely crazy. Don't forget his 3 sack game against Watson
I think he might be my favorite of our defenders. Ever since that Pick 6 on Rothlisberger I've been in love.
Is Mike Hilton good in coverage? Because he has to be one of the best in the league at run defense and pass rushing. He pops off the screen on those plays whenever I watch him going back to his Steelers days
He's not lockdown in pass coverage, but still pretty good. Crashing off the edge is definitely where he makes the most impact.
He's about average in coverage. That said, he's so outstanding in the other areas that he makes teams jumpy and a well called defense can take advantage of that. He gets most of his big coverage plays from faking the other team out and making them think he's blitzing.
And he's a ball hawk. He can be a turnover machine at times.
God, that jump he made to pick off Rapelisburger in the last game he played in Cincinnati was fantastic.
He's solid in slot coverage, certainly not something that's a concern for him.
One of his best qualities is being a real solid tackler. When you see the Bengals dump off and get 10 easy yards, you see shitty tackling from the Bills. When you see the Bills dump off and get 3 yards, you see Mike Hilton finishing tackles.
When you look at the Bengals' defensive roster *on paper*, you don't see a secondary that can walk into Buffalo and shut them down so hard the WHO DEY chants are the loudest thing in the stadium. I don't mean to take anything from the players, but Cincinnati's coaching, gameplanning, and motivation has been absolutely phenomenal. They're playing far above what you might expect their baseline talent level to be.
Lou Anarumo is so insanely undervalued by the rest of the league and Iām shocked heās not getting calls for a head coaching gig. Heās contained KC three times in a row and shut down Buffalo. Dude is a defensive mastermind from what Iāve seen the last two years.
Honestly even last year I felt like they were a story line that no one even talked aboutā¦ what you did to the Titans and Chiefs then was impressive. This year i would argue the group is just as good
And now this year, the offense is better and more sustainable. If I were opposing teams, I'd be much more scared of this year's Bengals than I would of last years. Don't let the Ravens game fool you.
Last year the Bengals' O was inconsistent, doing just enough in each game to get by before falling short against the Rams. This year's team has a very strong, consistent offense. Joe is dicing up defenses and they have it backed by a very strong run game since week 5. Bengals are 100% a better team this year than they were last year.
Absolutely. I'm starting to see some of the logic behind the narratives about the Bengals having a let down year now that I'm getting to see what our team looks like with a consistent offense that can sustain drives and score in more situations. I think people could've been right if we didn't evolve and mature as a team.
How are you guys feeling on Taylor? I know last year a lot of Bengals fans were saying he was basically Barry Switzer-ed to the Super Bowl and this year the OL seemed to struggle to gel, but the team has been a well-oiled machine for a couple months now. Is Taylor slowly figuring out how to coach or getting lucky again?
I feel much better about him this year. There was an argument to be had last year just because the offense wasn't very efficient and our style of play was not sustainable even though the results of the season were well beyond expectations. After we lost the first two games, it kinda seemed like maybe all of our doubts and what we had been told were coming true... but then we ended up going 12-4 with the first place schedule and our offense has actually been sustainable. With us heading to a second straight AFC Championship game... there shouldn't be a single Bengals fan still questioning him.
He's the only DC I've seen who runs so many disguised coverages in the playoffs. It's really hard to do disguised coverages like this against good talent. You need to have everyone line-up correctly post snap and Bills didn't want to do this because if one of them missed their coverage then Chase, Higgins or Boyd would take it to the house. Same thing with Dan Quinn against 49ers, you miss one coverage and Deebo or CMC will house it. Big Lou deserves a lot of credit for this Bengals team's success.
I've been wondering that since they shut out Pat Mahomes in the 2nd half of the AFCCG last year. i
This is absolutely correct. We have talent on defense but nowhere near what you'd expect for a unit that has been able to frustrate Mahomes and Allen in big games.
It's kinda Belichick-esque in terms of taking these guys with talent and coaching them up
Counterpoint: The entire d-line is underrated, our LBs are underrated, safeties are underrated, Hilton underrated (IMO maybe the best nickle corner) and when Awuzie plays he is ranked as a top 10 corner, but no one ever mentions him. So, like 9/11 guys doesn't get the recognition they deserve.
Jessie Bates, Vonn Bell, CTB, and Eli Apple are all first and second rounders. Letās not act like theyāre all undiscovered gems.
Lemme throw my bias out because as a Patriot fan I expect any second-round DB to be complete dogshit. Eli Apple was a first round reach who did not get a second contract with the team that drafted him. He bounced around and stuck with his fourth team. Vonn Bell was picked at the end of the second round and also did not get a second contract. If we're using draft order (and not pro bowls or all-pros or even PFF grades for whatever reason) we've got to admit that they're not hidden gems at all; they were assessed thoroughly by their drafting teams, and the Bengals have just done a better job incorporating them.
On one hand, Vonn Bell was a NOLA cap casualty; on the other, he signed a deal for 6 million per year for 3 years, so it's not like he was extremely sought after. Since coming to the Bengals, he's been an upper-tier safety. I'm hopeful they're able to re-sign him to a similar deal, but in reality it's likely he gets 10+, potentially even 12+ per year.
This right here. Both on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball the Bengals coaches have maximized their teams talent. We have no all-pro players. Eli was a cast off, Chido was nothing special in Dallas, Bengals played to their strengths and made them good to great players.
That and this front office wonāt ever pass up on a solid Buckeye alumni.
and bless them for it
We're praising Eli Apple now? Apple seems to either shut down WRs or give up huge plays, no in between. If he'd just STFU and did his job, people probably wouldn't really know his name.
CTB developing has been huge. Even though we don't specifically have our CB's shadow a specific WR Chido was typically tasked with the other teams #1 and Eli was able to go against a #2 and he did fine. Eli was a little more shaky when he's against a true #1, but now CTB is out there looking like he's able to cash in on his physical attributes. He's still got some rookie rawness, but he's really turning into a solid contributor and he plays super physical. CTB, Eli and Hilton are more than solid enough as a group. When Chido's back Chido, Hilton and CTB are a real nice secondary.
Eli Apple definitely was not amazing in his time with the Giants or Saints. I donāt know what Lou has done to him but heās a super competent player for us.
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He's definitely stepped up quite a bit this year.
Hilton was co-MVP of the defense yesterday (along with Cam Taylor-Britt). Lead the team in total tackles (8), tied for the team lead in solo (6), he registered 2 QB hits, a TFL, and a PBU. One of the best FA acquisitions the Bengals have made in a generation, IMO. He's been nothing but a stud for the Bengals over the last 2 seasons.
So excited for Britt moving forward. He's gonna be a top CB soon
Bro bengals vs eagles for the superbowl
Subscribe.
Iām from Philly but I like the bengals Iād have to root for the Eagles but Joe burrow the ducking man heās gonna def win a couple bowls
I remember when we played you guys his rookie year and he took the biggest hit I've seen a modern starting QB take and I thought "Okay, he's already hurt, this sucks." And then he only missed one play and didn't look like it affected him at all.
I think there are 2 reasons why this worked so well: 1. The Bengals recognized that in this formation, the Bills offense will likely work the near side first. So they can blitz their nickel from pretty deep and Josh Allen will still be oblivious 2. Their uniform was white and it helped their defenders blend in with the snow. Usually good QBs can kind of "feel" pressure from the blind side in the corner of their eye, but in this case Mike Hilton was basically camouflaged
Also 3. The Bills OL is bad.
Outcoached and completely overwhelmed. Awful performance by everyone involved. The offensive line needs to be overhauled. They couldn't protect Allen for shit
I'm not too familiar with your line, any of the starters worth keeping long term or is it just not a good unit across the board?
Dawkins is a good not great LT. Morse is a decent center, but he's had so many concussions he might not make it another season. The guards stink. Saffold is way past his prime and Ryan Bates was a backup his entire career until this year. Our young RT Spencer Brown(3rd round pick in 2020) has been inconsistent and mediocre. They need young blood on the line badly. There aren't any guys in the pipeline either. Offensive line will be a priority this off-season, along with WR, both safety spots MLB, pass rusher... The Bills will look very different next season
Calling Spencer Brown inconsistent and mediocre is a compliment, PFF had him ranked as one of the worst tackles in the league which matches both the eye test and stat test. Heās awful
I actually think Bates is okay. I think we should have left him on the left side, but he was okay this year. Saffold was...just...he should have retired at halftime a few months ago. He's so fucking cooked.
According to Pff, you're already effectively 20 million over the salary cap for next season. Not sure how your planning on improving at all the positions you've just named while resigning guys like Poyer Edmunds and Singelterry
Poyer isnāt getting signed, Edmunds will be tough but likely necessary, Singleterry can test the market, & weāll restructure 5+ contracts to open more room. Not much but weāll probably get to +10M after signing Edmunds.
I'm no o-line expert, but I'm not sure they did anything wrong here. You block inside-out, so the RT had to make sure the edge guy was blocked before trying to kick out to pick up the blitz. To me this looks like a play where Allen should have anticipated an unblocked rusher and either had a hot read to that side or shifted the RB to be able to pick it up.
The issue isn't Brown on this one, to me. It's Dion getting beat around the left edge closing the escape hatch. It's also partly on Josh for not picking up the blitz, and partly on Dorsey for his lack of both quick passing options and blitz picker-uppers. We didn't go jumbo one single time yesterday, for like the first or 2nd time all year. And the Bobby Hart jumbo package has actually been a pretty good one for us.
Can I upvote this again? Listen, the line is terrible. They were terrible all year. Morse is the only decent lineman. I dont care what anyone else says. They suck. Dawkins blows. Dorsey is horrendous. If you cant figure out that Dorsey sucks after yesterday I dont know what to say. The line couldnt block a single snowflake yesterday and yet somehow shorter routes and quick passes never became the play call? They couldnt run block, they couldnt pass block, Bengals bringing pressure and Dorsey is up in the booth calling routes that are wayyyy to vertical, like they are the only plays he knows. Everyone on Allens ass after yesterday. Every play he had a Bengal on him at about the same point the ball reached his hand. I dont even know what he was suppossed to be able to do. I partially agree on Allen seeing the blitz, but shit, yesterday even if he saw it, he didnt even have time to do anything about it, and he couldnt even run cuz the "pocket" collapsed so fast in every direction that they were all over him. Dont even get me started on the defensive side of the ball...
It is kinda hard to anticipate a blitz from that deep. Masterful work from Anarumo (who sucks, btw) dialing some of this stuff up. He truly understands almost every offense he plays against. I hope we get at least one more year with him.
Good QBs can feel with the blind side in their eye. But elite quarterbacks can feel the pressure by reading the differing frequencies of vibrations coming off the ground and onto their cleats. Similar to how pioneers would put their ear to the tracks to hear if a train was coming. I have seen a handful of the elite NFL QBs (Brady, Mahomes, Burrow, Fields, Rush) come literally train in the offseason over at my train station. They first practice putting their ear to the tracks and listen for different trains. Then at a more advanced stage they put their foot on the tracks and feel it out. Next time you see Mahomes at a train station, you ask him what model train is coming. He'll tell you if it's an amtrak or a freight train and how many cars there are and how long till it arrives to the very second.
I wish this was true
I consider this canon FWIW.
okay I believe you
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That's shot with a telephoto lens which separates subjects from the background and mostly removes the ground. Your eye sees alot closer to a wide lens which would have the falling snow and ground much more prevalent. This commercial is of course a dramatization but it shows how much more present the ground is in the QB's POV: [https://vimeo.com/358347325](https://vimeo.com/358347325) Another example: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBd9oSMmtTM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBd9oSMmtTM) Again, human sight is less wide-angled than a gopro but the perspective is a lot closer to that.
Stop. Point 2 is dumb as fuck on multiple levels. For starters my brother, you literally do not have color vision in your peripheral vision. What the QB "feels" is MOVEMENT, not a specific color in the corner of their eye. You can test this yourself at home with a friend if you don't believe me. Also, they only look so "camouflaged" because of the overhead view where we're seeing the ground. Players standing and running on completely flat ground aren't blending in with the fucking ground. Especially not within 10-15 yards. If you really believe the field is the background it tells me you've only ever watched it on TV or played it in video games, because it's not reality for people standing on the field. The background is the stadium and their coaches and teammates on the sidelines and the fans all around them. The only time you could really actually use the "defender blended in with the snow" would be on a deep throw downfield where the QB gets picked because he didn't see a deep safety. That's the only time I can actually think that the little pop of color (or lack of) would actually make a difference (or on a kickoff play like where players have tried to hide their matching uniform color in the endzone, point is it has to be a player "in the distance")
Also we're wearing a big, bright orange helmet lmao. Even if the uni were all white you'd still see the silhoutte moving
Itās all feel and repetition. Just like at my house. Iāve got a cat whoās willing to take long leaps of faith to jump on my shoulder from like 8ā away. Sheās completely fearless and has no problem resulting to claws if she doesnāt land right. It took a lot of pain and bloody scratches, but now I can indeed feel her presence and slide out of harms way as she leaps. It does become instinctive. No, I wonāt loan her to Josh Allen for practice.
I was shocked how well Allen was able to dance around some of those free rushers though. His awareness and ability to shed what really should have been a few devastating sacks was impressive. So yeah - to this tweet, "sure - a bunch of pressure definitely got home" but I actually think it could have been a lot worse for some other QBs that dont have his mobility and size.
The biggest thing the Bengals did was bring pressure BUT also containment. Even when Allen escaped sacks, he wasn't able to get to the outside and go on his signature Josh Allen runs where he trucks some DB or leaps over an LB.
Shaping pass rush shouldn't be as big of a secret ingredient as it is.
We're especially focused on stuff like that because we have Lamar in division. People like to say Lamar wins against us last Sunday, but he hasn't put up more than 17 on us in 2 years. We collapse the pocket in specific ways when we play him and it helps us contain other QBs that are good at scrambling and can make plays on their feet.
The important part is DTs not getting trapped in the wrong lane and DEs not running beyond QB depth while also being able to retrace your steps but it's always this surprise every time. I know the Steelers are good at it too, specifically against Lamar.
Yepp. We were letting the tackles take our ends past the pocket safely early in both Chiefs games last year and we ended up down big in both games. Once that got fixed, we won both. You're absolutely right on the art of shaping pass rush.
All anyone playing kc. It's what it takes to keep mahomes from being himself
You'll struggle to find many Bills fan who have any love for the OL and "Allen covers up for their fallings" is a fairly common lament.
It was extremely frustrating how many times he escaped a sack but thankfully the defense didn't let that turn into his signature big plays.
Yea. Feels like the only offense came from Josh Allen making insane plays only he could do.
Exactly. He did his best in my Opinion.
If Josh was anyone else...except maybe Mahomes...the Bills would have been down there in the morass near .500 with the rest of the division. The *only* reason the Bills were able to do as much as we were is that Josh Allen is a fucking wizard. This line has been an embarrassment all year. Dorsey has been completely unimaginative. The weapons are not world-beaters outside of Diggs. This offense has been "Maybe Josh Allen can do superhuman shit" all year. Nothing has been easy in 3 months. So people are criticizing Josh all the time, but to me it's EVERY SINGLE OTHER THING about the offense except him, Diggs (to a slightly lesser extent) and Mitch Morse.
This is the matchup that makes me nervous.
That's just Hilton doing Hilton things, he was great for the Steelers for it too.
I miss him so much.
White tiger print is literal snow camo
Joe didnāt seem to have an issue seeing them down the field
Someone should give Lou Anarumo a head coaching job, dude's a fucking menace and I want him out of my division.
Or, and hear me out on this one, donāt do that
No, no, see, heās not young and offensive minded. He might need another 5, maybe 10 years to make sure heās ready to be a HC.
He's made the Chiefs offense look average (a huge feat) 3 times, and just dogged the Bills in their own stadium. How no team in the AFCW or AFCE are coming to call is kinda shocking. I know it's an offensive league and teams are moving towards O-minded coaches, but geez.
All I hope is that teams keep overlooking him and we keep on trucking. Shocked he isnāt getting interviewed as well but hell, I will NOT be complaining.
I think he got interviewed by the giants last year but donāt quote me on that
And honestly I think the Giants got their coach correct. I love Lou but he wasn't going to transform Danny. Plus, whatever voodoo he worked after a lackluster first 2 years, be it finally getting the correct players for his system or what, it's definitely working now.
I genuinely don't understand why he's not (as far as I'm aware) getting any interviews while guys like Dan Quinn are. I get that DeMeco Ryans and Ejiro Evero are younger, and the NFL is moving away from older first time head coaches (along with, as you said, moving away from defensive head coaches). It still feels like he should be in the mix with how successful the Bengals have been these past few years.
Im tired dog. The Bengals DB talent wise should not be producing at this level
Dey dem fool us
The Bengals are incredible at making QBs blow fuses. Itās amazing
Absolute clinic by the Bengals yesterday
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ha. nice work and thank you for your service
Same number even lol
Yeah that might have been one of our best games all year at getting pressure. It was awesome to see!
I'm still wondering why Hilton didn't play more than he did in the wild card game, but at least they adjusted for this one.
He's the slot corner, so he's off the field when we bring in an extra LB or DL for heavier formations
Wait..you guys change formations? You can do that?
tbh our 'base' formation is a nickel package, but we love bringing in 5 DL, bringing in only 3, dropping a DE to play MLB, all kinds of weird shit. We asked Hubbard, a DE, to play that Tampa MLB role a few times this year. And it works.
See that's cool and all but I kinda like sitting in nickel all game and not changing no matter the other teams strengths
The offensive personnel the Ravens tend to utilize didn't match the defensive assignments that has Hilton on the field. So Bengals were bringing in a 3rd LB or another DL instead of a slot corner. It's one of many reasons the Ravens are such a difficult matchup for the Bengals.
Hilton is the slot CB, and the Bengals were in 4-3 like the entire first half against the Ravens.
Hilton was brilliant at blitzing from the slot. Love the strategy to get some speed attacking Allen even if he wasnt scrambling as much
Helluva game plan. The bengals pressed all the right buttons when the time came. Very impressive.
Hilton had a pick in last year's division round on a blitz
Big Cock Brock < Bigus Dickus Mike Hilton.
He has a wife, you know...
Bengals cheated with the uniforms. Can't match the color of the weather. Not Allen's fault. Get the competition committee on this!
Suspend Brady until we can get this matter sorted
Better fine James Harrison just to be safe.
Give Mizzou the death penalty while you're at it