Allen is the next great quarterback the Bengals (11-4) are facing, but the Monday night matchup with the Bills (12-3) has a little extra spice to it. Cincinnati has an opportunity to take down the AFC’s No. 1 team and move into a top two seed in the playoff picture with a win.
“He’s a great quarterback,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “… We’ve gotten a full dose of what he does. Really exciting player. Extends plays, the play’s never dead. He’s got the arm strength to make every throw he could possibly make. Probably one of his best throws this year was backed up against Pittsburgh, I think on the third play of the game when he threw a (98)-yard touchdown. He’s a big-time playmaker. All hands on deck when you’re trying to corral him in the pocket and having to cover downfield. He brings an element to the quarterback run game, and that can be a challenge as well. There’s a lot of things they do offensively that you’ve got to prepare for and be ready for.”
Cornerback Mike Hilton said Allen is different from the other elite quarterbacks the Bengals have faced because he’s big (6-foot-5, 240 pounds), but still moves well, extends plays with his legs and has a strong arm. He ranks among the league’s passing leaders with 4,029 yards and 32 touchdowns. His top target is wide receiver Stefon Diggs, whose 1,329 yards receiving ranks third most in the NFL.
Allen, the No. 7 overall pick by the Bills in the 2018 draft, also has rushed for 746 yards and seven touchdowns. Only Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts have more rushing yards among QBs. The Bills have scored 28.0 points per game (fourth in the NFL) and their 402.3 net yards of offense ranks second in the league.
“It starts with Allen and who he has outside with Diggs, one of the best combos in all of football. And the way Allen can extend plays and make plays with his legs, it shows just how explosive they are, but they also have a lot of different weapons,” Hilton said. “They’re running the ball well lately. We will be ready, and we just have to match their intensity.”
Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said it’s the throws Allen makes on the run that makes him so tough to prepare for, especially with his arm strength. He pointed out a 72-yard pass Allen made at the end of a game against the Jets in Week 9 when he ran to one sideline and hit his receiver on the other side of the field.
“He can obviously make any throw on the field from anywhere on the field,” Anarumo said. “The guy could roll out all the way to the numbers and throw it to the opposite numbers. … So there’s the throwing part, keeping him in the pocket and then he’s the second leading rusher per carry I think in the league, so you’ve got to deal with that too. So there’s a reason why he’s always in the MVP talk, and he’s a great player.”
Free safety Jessie Bates said playing other mobile quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Tua Tagovailoa this season helps give the Bengals defense some confidence in preparation for Allen. He compared it to playing “backyard football.”
However, Allen is tougher to bring down than most quarterbacks, and he doesn’t mind taking hits if he can extend a play to get a few more yards. He doesn’t slide often and he can hurdle defenders, too.
That can make a free safety’s job more challenging, but Bates said these are the matchups he lives for, especially with all that is at stake so late in the season. Allen also takes more gambles than most — he has 13 interceptions — so Bates is hoping the Bengals can take advantage.
“Every week you don’t get to see a quarterback like this, so yeah, it something you kind of have circled on the schedule,” Bates said. “It’s a great opportunity to kind of see where we are, where we are as a team. We have everything that we talked about at the beginning of the season ahead of us and the Bills are in the way. It’s an exciting time.”
MONDAY’S GAME
Bills at Bengals, 8:30 p.m., ESPN, ABC, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
About the Author