Following the heartbreak on the road in Kansas City last year, the Bills fell behind 14-0 early to the Bengals and never recovered. While the Bengals will try to win a second consecutive AFC championship game over the Chiefs on the road, the Bills are left to pick up the pieces for the offseason after another postseason disappointment.
MORE: Joe Burrow, Bengals dominate Bills to reach another AFC championship
So what all went horribly wrong for the Bills as favored hosts to the point they were even’t competitive? Here’s exploring the five reasons for the lopsided result:
The Bills were destroyed on both lines of scrimmage
Although the flashy attention is on the quarterbacks and big pass plays in playoffs, most NFL games from mid January to mid February are decided in the trenches. Unfortunately, Buffalo lost badly with either front.
First, the Bengals’ injury-depleted offensive line blew up the Bills, led by the three key replacements: left tackle Jackson Carman, right guard Max Scharping and right tackle Hakeem Adeniji.
They opened up huge holes for running backs Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine from the get-go on their way to rushing for a combined 138 powerful yards and a TD at 5.1 yards per carry. They also kept quarterback Joe Burrow, who did his big part by getting the ball out quickly and spreading it around in an intermediate passing game, from seeing much pressure. Burrow also got key yards scrambling when the line had its few lapses.
Burrow was sacked only once for an overall meaningless two-yard loss. The Bills have good depth on their defensive front four, but minus a healthy Von Miller no one stepped up to get consistently after Burrow.
The Bills’ offensive line had ups and downs as an average unit. When Allen wasn’t running the ball, Buffalo was held to only 3.4 yards per carry on limited attempts. Allen was also sacked only once, but he was under duress often, keeping him from connecting better on his downfield throws. At the same time, Allen was contained as a rusher when the Bills weren’t near the goal line.
The Bengals mixed things up front well and ace linemen Trey Hendrickson, Sam Hubbard, D.J. Reader and B.J. Hill controlled the game outside-in. They also got more key plays overall from others in their rotation, including Joseph Ossai early. The Bills had a lot of holes in their blocking scheme, especially on the right side, the Bengals exploited them all, all afternoon.
MORE: Ja’Marr Chase’s overturned TD in Bengals vs. Bills game sparks debate over NFL’s catch rule
The Bills didn’t adjust their passing game well for Josh Allen
The Bills, despite Allen facing some heat and the Bengals playing fundamentally sound with their cornerbacks, kept forcing the deep shots to wide receivers Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis and Khalil Shakir. There were some big plays created out of those chances on their scoring drives, but in snowy conditions, the risk far outweighed the limited rewards with a lot of missed, empty possessions.
Buffalo took too long to find an effective short passing game, in the end led by tight end Dawson Knox. The Bills also didn’t use their backs as receivers at all when the game outcome was still doubt and went away from short-area targets Isiah McKenzie and Cole Beasley too early, too.
Burrow was more content to take plenty of passing gains under 20 yards, not forcing the ball to wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. Tight end Hayden Hurst, along with Mixon and Perine, led the way as Burrow delivered calculated dinking and dunking. Meanwhile, Allen got stuck in more boom-or-bust land to be much more inefficient with his low yards per attempt (6.3).
The Bills didn’t even try to be effective running the ball without Allen
The Bills proved at times during the regular season they could be a strong traditional rushing team with reliable Devin Singletary and sometimes explosive rookie James Cook. But they combined for only 11 carries as the Bills abandoned the run early despite Allen slumping in the passing game. The Bengals were able to tee off facing a one-dimensional offense all game long to further frustrate Allen.
The Bills were confused with their coverage and sloppy with their tackling
The Bengals kept the Bills’ off balanced with a diverse, balanced and multiple attack. Seven receivers came through Burrow in key situations. He dropped back 37 times while the Bengals ran 34 times. Burrow worked well to who was open on medium routes inside and outside. He also had the Bills’ struggling secondary on a string and got favorable matchups on their linebackers and safeties.
Mixon and Perine ran hard for extra yardage after contact through the red zone. All the receivers worked well after the catch in the open field, led by Chase’s quickness and Hurst’s hurdling.
The Bills played with less intensity and urgency than the Bengals
Buffalo had the emotional element of Damar Hamlin’s return to the stadium. But Cincinnati seemed to be more motivated and inspired by the fact it was first disrespected as repeat AFC North champion because of the coin flip talk vs. Baltimore and the neutral conference title game buzz.
Burrow, Mixon and the Bengals played with those key chips on their shoulder, converting it into high energy through a methodical, focused performance. The Bengals wanted their rematch with the Chiefs in Kansas City more than the Bills wanted their rematch with the Chiefs in Atlanta. It was evident in the Bengals being the more physical and more disciplined team. The Bills were a major letdown in that area, as they were just about everywhere else.
