The Bengals' defense had its best executed plan of the year to stop Josh Allen
On third and 11 early in the second quarter, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen rolled out of the pocket and tried to make his signature play.
Allen is a perennial MVP candidate because of his ability to deliver deep completions on the move. This time, against a Cincinnati Bengals’ defense that Allen hasn’t been able to figure out, Allen pointed to wide receiver Gabe Davis down the middle of the field as he tried to create an off-schedule play.
But linebacker Germaine Pratt and safety Dax Hill were bracketing Davis in coverage over the middle. Allen kept running to his right and waved to wide receiver Deonte Harty to get open near the right sideline, but Bengals cornerback DJ Turner was right on top of him. When Allen looked to run for the first down, Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton was reading his eyes perfectly and cut off the rushing lane. Allen ended up throwing the ball away.
Analysis: What stood out in Cincinnati Bengals' primetime win over Buffalo Bills
For the entire game, all 11 players on the Bengals’ defense were in sync.
The Bills entered Sunday night’s game with the second-best scoring offense in the NFL. The Bengals won, 24-18, and the final score doesn’t reflect how much the Bengals’ defense was in control.
“It was a total team effort getting sacks, turnovers and limiting one of the most explosive offenses in the league,” Hilton said. “We take pride in shutting offenses down, and we did that.”
Shutting down the Buffalo Bills' offense
The Bills started out with an 85-yard touchdown drive. After that, Buffalo totaled zero yards on their next three possessions. Allen is one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the NFL in two-minute drills, and the Bengals stopped him again before halftime. The Bengals’ defense closed out the game with a forced fumble in the red zone by Pratt.
When Allen is at his best, he’s a do-it-all explosive quarterback who can overpower defenses on his own. He has arguably the strongest arm in the NFL, and he’s one of the league’s best scramblers.
Against the Bengals, he only completed one pass of 20-plus air yards and only completed four passes of 10-plus yards. With no windows for deep throws, the Bengals felt like the Bills went away from their initial game plan and switched to a conservative run-pass-option-centric approach.
“We strive to take away what people rely on,” Bengals safety Nick Scott said. “We were able to limit explosives, which is their bread and butter. We did a good job plastering and making sure we were keeping guys in front of us. We emphasized playing deep and on top of guys and staying in coverage when Allen got on the move. We kept him in the pocket. He’s a talented guy. We know he can play at an extremely high level. It was a great challenge, and I’m happy we came out successful.”
Sound coverage in the Bengals' defensive backfield
The Bengals’ game plan started with taking away those deep passes. Bengals linebackers dropped deeper in coverage than they normally do, and the Bengals used more two-high safety looks. Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo didn’t call as many aggressive blitzes to try to catch Allen off-guard.Instead, the Bengals bested Allen with sound, detailed coverage and a few unexpected pressure looks.
“We gave them different looks with guys moving around pre-snap and post-snap,” Hilton said. “We set up our guys up front for one-on-one matchups, and they had a great day. We kept Allen in the pocket well and got him down. Once we took away their explosive plays, they had to nickel and dime their way down the field.”
The new-look Bengals’ secondary went through some growing pains earlier in the season. Over the last month, they’ve been communicating and executing at the level of a Super Bowl-caliber defense.
The Bengals stopped the Bills’ two-minute drive because of those qualities in the secondary. On second down with the Bills past midfield, cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt perfectly passed off his assignment by pointing to Bills star receiver Stefon Diggs, who was trying to run a deep route against the Bengals’ zone coverage. Pratt and Scott swooped in and prevented Allen from even attempting to throw a deep ball.
When the Bills tried a flea flicker, the Bengals’ secondary forced Allen to throw the ball away.
On a third down in the third quarter, Allen tried to find Diggs over the middle of the field. With eight players in coverage, Hilton and Taylor-Britt bracketed Diggs and took away Allen’s first read. Hill was playing great coverage against Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid. Then when Allen tried to scramble, defensive end Trey Hendrickson chased him down.
“If you stop Diggs, everything falls into place for us,” Hill said. “They really have to adjust the offense because their main guy isn’t doing much. Then I really didn’t allow Kincaid to catch a pass. I had a good feel for what he was going to do.”
Sacks not needed to contain Allen
The Bengals only had one sack, but they executed a disciplined rush that kept Allen from scrambling for big runs. At the line of scrimmage, the Bengals mixed up different looks and broke through into the backfield even when the Bills should have had an advantageous matchup
The Bengals ran a lot of drop-eight coverages with just three defensive linemen, and they disguised their pressures as well as they have all season. Even when the Bills had a numbers advantage at the line of scrimmage, the Bengals’ pass rush found a way to keep Allen off-balanced with different pass rush games, techniques and blitzes.
“They’ve got one of the best quarterbacks in the league,” BJ Hill said. “It’s hard to contain him. We did a good job keeping him in the pocket the best we can. He made some big plays on the move because he’s one of the best. But at the end of the day, we did our job very well.”
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor made some conservative decisions on fourth downs on Sunday, which was a reflection of his confidence in the way the Bengals’ defense has been playing.
Hendrickson, Sam Hubbard, BJ Hill and DJ Reader are rushing the passer as well as they ever have. Pratt and Logan Wilson are playing the best football of their careers. The Bengals see Taylor-Britt and Hill developing into potential Pro Bowlers, and the secondary has gelled together.
When the Bengals’ defense faced its toughest test of the season on Sunday night, it played like one of the best groups in the NFL.
“We’re doing what we do,” Reader said. “Getting buckets.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bengals defense vs Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills film review
