What we learned from Bengals' loss to Chiefs to knock Cincinnati out of playoffs

The Cincinnati Bengals (8-8) were eliminated from the postseason after the 25-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Everyone in the Bengals’ organization knew the stakes of the game and the team came up just short on New Year's Eve.

Without Joe Burrow, it was always going to be a tough task to secure a playoff berth. But backup quarterback Jake Browning got the Bengals close enough and the team let its opportunity slip through their hands.

Following the game, cornerback Mike Hilton used the term “frustrating” to explain his feelings. Hilton perhaps felt frustrated because the Bengals suffered self-inflicted wounds.

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On offense, it was pretty self-explanatory as to why they came up short. After a strong first half performance, the Bengals didn’t score a point in the second half. Center Ted Karras expressed his frustration with that above anything else.

“To put up zero in the second half is not a winning formula,” Karras said.

Even with Burrow in the lineup, the issues that were present in the Week 17 loss showed up all season long. And now the Bengals will have even more time to address them without a trip to the postseason for the first since 2020.

The Bengals must fix their secondary, specifically at safety

Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said earlier in the week the explosive plays needed to stop. And then what happened? The Bengals allowed three plays that totals more than 200 yards. Cincinnati’s issues in the secondary in terms of allowing explosive plays will end up being the biggest issue the team had all season long.

One play summarized the Bengals’ issues in the secondary. Chiefs’ wide receiver Rashee Rice got past Cam Taylor-Britt and the play resulted in a 67-yard gain for Kansas City. At first, it looked as if Taylor-Britt just got beat. Following the game, Taylor-Britt explained he wasn’t the one who got beat, the explosive play occurred because the Bengals were in zone coverage and Cincinnati’s safeties didn’t do their job to back him up.

These are things that shouldn’t happen to a team in Week 17.  Communication errors should be at a minimum at this point, especially when the defensive coordinator has stressed it all season long.

“It happened with the safeties,” Taylor-Britt explained of the play. “Like I said, communication. It all plays on the back end. If you don’t communicate, you’ll see big plays happen. I was supposed to be in cloud (coverage), our safeties didn’t talk about it. One was down, one wasn’t and once he saw me re-route, he saw no safety over top. He’s the quarterback in the league, he’s going to see that and make a play.”

Cincinnati hoped the damage of losing Jessie Bates and Vonn Bell prior to this season would be less apparent with the addition of Nick Scott and Dax Hill in his second year. Then, the Bengals benched Scott in place of rookie third-round pick Jordan Battle and Hill didn’t take the necessary leap they expected him to when they drafted him in the first round last year.

Sure, the Bengals are young in the secondary and these kinds of mistakes are bound to happen. The problem is, the rate at which they happen is alarming and it continues to be the same repeat offenders.

Cincinnati’s front office is going to have to take a long look at the safety position this offseason.

“We need this offseason to figure that out,” Taylor-Britt said of the secondary.

At some point, the Bengals must fix their short-yardage game

For three years now, the Bengals have struggled in their short-yardage game. And a week after an embarrassing effort in Pittsburgh, once again, the Bengals found themselves unable to get one yard when they needed it most.

On fourth-and-1 from the six-yard line, head coach Zac Taylor opted to go for it which seemed like the right decision. Taylor opted for a run play and running back Joe Mixon was stuffed for a loss of three yards.

Cincinnati came away with zero points on one of their most promising drives at a critical point in the game.

The Bengals need to undergo an honest assessment of their short-yardage game this offseason. Whether it’s a new run scheme or different personnel, they’ve got to find an answer. In a division that’s built on running the ball and how you stop the run, the Bengals won’t be able to contend every year if they can’t line up and force their will on opponents.

Following the game, Karras said it was a personnel “mismatch” because Kansas City had their goal-line package in. The decision to not call a timeout to change the call after seeing the personnel is something that will be heavily debated but had Taylor called a pass play and they didn’t convert, many would question the decision not to run it.

Regardless of how you look at it, Kansas City’s defense had enough confidence based off what they had seen on film this year with the Bengals’ short-yardage game that if they crowded the line of scrimmage, the Bengals wouldn’t be able to get enough push up front and cash in.

Their gamble paid off and it made one of Cincinnati’s biggest flaws even more apparent.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bengals analysis loss to Kansas City Chiefs NFL Week 17