Bengals Film Breakdown: Four Pivotal Matchups In Divisional Round Showdown With Bills

Cincinnati is hoping to win their 10-straight game on Sunday.

Author:
Mike Santagata
Publish date:
Jan 20, 2023 8:21 AM EST

In this story:

NFL games typically come down to the player’s performances over the schematic portion of the contest. The coaches can put their players in the best position to succeed, but the players themselves decide the games more often than not.

That especially rings true in a game that features two of the most talented teams in the league in the Bills and the Bengals. This is not to diminish the strategy of defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, because he pretty consistently gives issues for opposing offenses, but without the players executing on his plan it would not work so beautifully.

With all that said, let’s dive into some of the key matchups in this game.

Tre'Davious White vs Bengals Wide Receivers

This matchup is the marquee matchup of the game. You get the Bills No. 1 cornerback in Tre’Davious White going up against two of the best receivers in the NFL. White is coming off of an ACL tear last season and has been pretty good so far, but hasn't played up to his All-Pro standard. White is 5’11” and 192 pounds, but he plays much bigger than that. He loves to get into guys physically at the line of scrimmage and keep his hands on them throughout the route. He’s one of the best cornerbacks at jamming wide receivers at the line. This is best shown with his matchup against Jaylen Waddle in Week 15.

White is one of the most sound cornerbacks when he jams receivers. This flash and punch is a rare but awesome move from him. Not many guys can pull this off and a big reason why is the patience it takes. When White got into Waddle physically, he dominated him. White only gave up three catches on 11 targets in that game and much of that is due to his physicality. If he is able to jam the receiver, then he typically has a good day. If he does not jam the receiver though.

White has had his issues when he is asked to cover this season without getting physical with the receiver at the line of scrimmage. Some of this comes from the fact that he was not an elite athlete prior to the ACL tear and now that has diminished further. He’s still good in these situations because of his ball skills and his recovery, but this is where you can get him. The Bengals actually took advantage of this in the week 17 matchup on the Tyler Boyd touchdown. White was playing off coverage against Boyd running a post route. Boyd got in good position against him and got in for the score.

Spencer Brown vs Sam Hubbard

Spencer Brown is a young right tackle certainly provides value to the Bills' offense with his athleticism and strength, but he is still fairly raw. He’s not a terrible player by any stretch, but he does seem to be one of the weaker links along the offensive line. This showed up in the Wild Card round as he struggled against the Dolphins' pass rush.

While Sam Hubbard does not move the same as a Jalen Phillips, he can recreate some of these issues for Brown. He’s an extremely strong player with a good bull rush as we saw in his game against Miami.

To go with that bull rush, Hubbard has a signature move to attack the outside in his side scissors move.

This matchup is one of the keys to the game. While Trey Hendrickson will always do what he does, only getting pressure from one player isn't ideal. If Hubbard can take advantage of this opportunity, then the Bengals defense could give the Bills a tough time on offense. If Brown is able to step up and keep Hubbard at bay, then the Bengals' defense could be in a bad spot with their pass rush.

Bengals' Offensive Line vs Bills' Pass Rush

The Bengals' offensive line is down three starters and is about as patchwork as it was for the last postseason run. While they were able to continue to run their offense despite two key injuries on the offensive line, a third one made them go into their shell offensively last week against the Ravens.

With a full week to prepare knowing what they have along the line, they may be able to still get to what they like to do offensively. On paper, this matchup seems like a brutal one for the Bengals, but the Bills' pass rush has not been the same without Von Miller. Their best pass rusher by the numbers is Gregory Rousseau and he was held to one pressure and zero sacks or quarterback hits by a right guard forced to play right tackle last week.

The Dolphins were in a similar if not worse spot with their offensive line than the Bengals are with theirs. They had an undrafted practice squad call up at left guard and an undrafted second-year player at right guard. Their normal right guard had to kick out to right tackle last week. The only starters in their original positions were the center and left tackle. Despite all of that, Skylar Thompson had an average of over three seconds to throw the ball. He took 4 sacks in the game, but much of the pressure and half of the sacks came from guys who are not on the defensive line. Matt Milano, Taron Johnson, and Tremaine Edmunds combined for five pressures for the Bills.

The only player who had more pressures than Milano and Johnson on the front was Ed Oliver (3). Milano also led the team with two sacks. The issue here for Buffalo is that manufacturing pressure against a third-string quarterback with blitzes works fine. Against Joe Burrow it’s suicide. Burrow is one of the absolute best quarterbacks against the blitz this season and has been for his career. He also has one of the shortest times to throw in the entire NFL, trailing only Tom Brady.

If the Bills cannot pressure Burrow with just their front four, then this is going to be a very long day for the Bills defense. On paper this matchup heavily favors Buffalo, but they have disappointed in this advantageous matchups before.

Stefon Diggs vs Cam Taylor-Britt and Eli Apple

The Bengals are not going to leave their cornerbacks on Stefon Diggs one-on-one for most of this game. However, there are situations in every single game that require a defense to play one-on-one man coverage. Even if these opportunities are rare, can either of the Bengals cornerbacks handle a top 5 receiver in Diggs. The Dolphins did not handle this test as Diggs went for more than 100 yards although they also tried to run blitzes at Allen for a ton of this game.

When you blitz and do not get home, the cornerbacks are in a very vulnerable position. Here Allen shows off his rocket arm and Diggs is able to win his matchup for a 52-yard gain. Diggs also cooked the Dolphins' cornerbacks when it was other one-on-one situations though.

Diggs is an elite talent because of the way he moves. On this play you can see the instant separation he can generate because of his change of direction and explosion. He is a one-of-one player who is tough to handle. He can do it from the slot too.

This is the first matchup against an elite wide receiver for this Bengals defense without Chidobe Awuzie. The closest that they have had was their matchup against Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and in that game both of those players went for 83 yards. The Bengals won't shut Diggs down in this game, but can they limit him to under 100 yards and make life tough on him? It’s one of the most pivotal matchups of the game. In the canceled matchup between these teams, Diggs had 26 yards on the Bills' only possession.

Cincinnati and Buffalo meet in the divisional round this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on CBS. The game is available via fuboTV—start your free trial here.

For more on the Bengals, watch the video below and subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Get Your Bengals Tickets From SI Tickets HERE.

Make sure you bookmark All Bengals for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!

You May Also Like:

Watch: Sam Hubbard's Fumble TD From All Angles

Sam Hubbard Scores Improbable Touchdown to Become Latest Bengals' Playoff Hero

Watch: Zac Taylor Delivers Wild Card Game Ball To Local Bar

By The Numbers: Bengals Post Historic Wild Card Victory At Paycor Stadium

Listen: Dan Hoard's Radio Call Of Sam Hubbard's Fumble Return Score

Winners and Losers From the Cincinnati Bengals' Playoff Win Over the Baltimore Ravens

Watch: Sam Hubbard Returns Fumble Length Of Field For Touchdown Against Ravens

Postgame Observations: Bengals' Defense Steps Up Big in 24-17 Playoff Win Over Ravens