ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five takeaways from the Buffalo Bills’ 27-10 divisional-round playoff loss against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at Highmark Stadium:
1. The score doesn’t adequately reflect the thoroughness of this beating.
The Bills were physically dominated at the line of scrimmage. They were out-coached. They were, in short, woefully unprepared to face a top-notch opponent.
Perhaps the biggest indictment of the way they played was Matt Milano describing the Bills’ performance as “flat.” Flat? How could that be?
The stakes were too high for the Bills to have been anything but highly charged to give their best effort. They had a super-stoked home-field crowd. They had the bitter memory of squandering what should have been a sure victory in last year’s divisional-round game at Kansas City.
In short, they had every reason to play well enough to win. There is simply no excuse for their atrocious showing.
2. Where was the pass rush?
The Bengals were missing three starting offensive linemen. That, alone, was reason to believe the Bills entered the game with a significant advantage, even without Von Miller.
Yet, the Bengals’ O-line more than held its own in pass protection. It gave up only one sack and allowed Joe Burrow plenty of time to be extremely efficient in throwing for 242 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Cincinnati’s blockers also opened enough holes to allow Joe Mixon to rush for 105 yards, while averaging 5.3 yards per carry, and a touchdown.
The defensive front’s no-show was an absolute embarrassment. There was no energy, no sense of competitiveness, something that was evident on the game’s first drive when the Bengals marched 79 yards in six plays for a touchdown, a 28-yard Burrow pass to Ja’Marr Chase.
Burrow never should have had the time he did to do practically anything he wanted. For the most part, he dropped back and picked apart the secondary … that is when Mixon and other runners weren’t carving through the defense like a hot knife through butter.
3. Where was the Bills’ offensive line?
The problems with the team generating measly 10 points began up front. Though Allen was sacked only once, he was under siege for most of the game. He ran eight times, mostly while under duress. The Bengals came after him from a variety of angles, with constant heat generated by their defensive line and blitzers.
The Bills seemed to have no clue how to handle Cincinnati’s defensive scheming. Offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey had zero answers for what Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, one of the very best DCs in the league, was dishing out.
Despite being targeted 10 times (more than any Bills player) Stefon Diggs, who only had four catches for 35 yards, showed his frustration on the sidelines during the game and the same was true afterward when he bolted from the dressing room moments after the final gun before being ushered back inside by practice squad member Duke Johnson.
4. The NFL did the Bills no favors with the selling of tickets earlier in the week for the planned neutral-site AFC Championship Game in Atlanta between Buffalo and Kansas City. (Now, with the Bengals having advanced, the title game will be played at Arrowhead Stadium).
I get it. In order to facilitate fans from the Bills and Chiefs making travel arrangements, etc., the tickets had to be sold before the outcome of Sunday’s game.
However, the Bengals naturally used that has motivation, saying they were being counted out long before kickoff. Some of their players made comments to that effect during the week.
And after Sunday’s game, Cincinnati players were yelling about the same topic as they ran up the tunnel. Burrow, for one, told ESPN’s Dianna Russini on the field, “Better send those refunds!”
The bottom line is that through no fault of their own, the Bills had to deal with an opponent getting emotional fuel. And it showed on the field. The Bengals clearly were determined to show that they were the better team and nothing, including whatever obvious business reasons that created the notion they were being overlooked, was going to stop them on that mission.
5. It’s fair to wonder if, in fact, the Bills have suffered a setback in their program.
There’s plenty of time to dig deeper into the team’s offseason needs, of course. However, for now, it is impossible to ignore the obvious. After those fateful 13 seconds in last year’s divisional-round loss against Kansas City, it seemed the Bills were already destined to be a Super Bowl team this season. The addition of Miller figured to be the final touch to a championship club.
Now, you have to wonder, after playing so terribly in being bounced out in the divisional round once again, if the Bills are to be seen as a team in need of more significant roster overhaul.
There are questions about the offensive line, about the defensive line, about the secondary, about running back, about receiver … oh, and there are multiple players who could depart in free agency.
Stay tuned!