ORCHARD PARK, NY — Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer have been known for speaking the same language for years as the Buffalo Bills’ highly decorated security guards, the defense’s highly efficient communicators.
When asked about a specific topic from Cincinnati Bengals Sunday afternoon, they might have needed a translator.
“That’s a good question,” Poyer said, shaking his head and looking at the floor of his dressing room at Highmark Stadium. “I don’t know, to be honest. I’m sure you’ll take some away from this, but it’s going to be a brand new game.”
A few minutes earlier, Hyde paused to think while pulling up his socks.
“You can learn a lot,” said Hyde, “in one piece.”
Three weeks ago, Buffalo and Cincinnati played 9 minutes and 2 seconds before a nightmare unfolded.
Bill’s Safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during a routine tackle and collapsed. CPR and a defibrillator were required to bring Hamlin back to life. He remained unconscious and on a ventilator for two days.
The NFL canceled the game, wiped all stats, and pulled the broadcast from its replay service. The game doesn’t officially exist.
But it happened.
Now that we know Hamlin is recovering – he was able to reunite with his teammates at One Bills Drive last week – anyone can guilt-free relive the Bengals’ seven offensive games and 11 Bills games they played each other at Paycor Stadium. visit again.
Their rematch was cemented on Sunday. The Bills prevailed against the Miami Dolphins and a few hours later the Bengals eluded the Baltimore Ravens. The winners meet at Highmark Stadium at 3pm on Sunday.
GO DEEPER
Seven observations from the Bills’ uncomfortable wildcard win over Dolphins
How much is footage of their abridged matchup worth?
“I know it’s hard for our boys to watch because of Damar,” said Bill’s left guard Rodger Saffold, “but you have to look at this closely. I don’t think it would be professional of us to ignore any of those plays.
“When it comes to these kinds of games, it’s a chess match. Preparation will be key.”
Bengals coach Zac Taylor was inclined to Poyer’s uncertainty about the value of those nine fresh minutes between teams who have played twice a piece since.
“I’ve never been in a situation like this in my life,” Taylor said. “It’s so strange because you practiced for a whole week and it wasn’t like nine weeks ago; it was two weeks ago. There is a balance. What you adapt, what you keep, both teams will deal with that.
While coaches and players can gain nuanced insight into every formation, blocking scheme and stunt, 18 Snapshots shouldn’t be used to evaluate what might have happened down the rest of the way or how you’re placing your bets.
Buffalo was 7-3 down after one possession a piece but opened as a 3.5-point favorite for Sunday.
“It’s an incredibly small sample size,” said Sam Monson, senior analyst at Pro Football Focus. “In 18 offensive games, the Chargers were 7-0 ahead of the Jaguars, had the ball and were close to scoring again and taking command. Anything can happen over 18 games.
“It was certainly interesting that Cincinnati led and looked good in the game, but who knows how the next 120 games would have played out?”
Nevertheless, there was a lot of action in those 18 offensive games, a pass interference penalty, a field goal, an extra point and three breaks.
If coaches care about just observing an opponent’s formation before taking time-outs at critical spots like quarter-and-inches, then the feature film’s 9:02 must provide valuable clues.
“There’s really a lot to learn,” Saffold said. “We can see them attacking us. We can see the defense in front of us.
“Both attacks moved the ball extremely well. It looked like there would be a shootout.”
Those who didn’t watch live will have to take Saffold’s word as play-by-play and statistical data has been purged from most sites.
Cincinnati won the toss and went for the ball. Tyler Bass’ kick was a touchback.
On the first snap, Joe Burrow fired a deep ball over the left touchline for Ja’Marr Chase. Bill’s cornerback Tre’Davious White was flagged 29 yards for pass interference.
Burrow connected with tight end Hayden Hurst for 4 yards. Joe Mixon charged 5 yards. Bill’s slot cornerback Taron Johnson left the game with a head injury. Burrow canceled the first dismount himself with a 2-yard run, then found Hurst again for 21 yards. On the next play, Burrow spotted Tyler Boyd for the 14-yard touchdown.
“They scored in the opening run,” Hyde said, “so obviously you have to look back and see how they did it.”
Taylor’s offense put a lot of early results on film. They’ve cracked an opening drive touchdown seven times if you count the canceled contest in week 17. They started three times with a field goal.
In Sunday night’s three games of the playoffs against the Ravens, Cincinnati started with a field goal, followed by a touchdown on his second possession and pinned his other offensive touchdown in the first series after halftime.
“We’ve had opening drive touchdowns before,” Poyer said. “We were able to establish ourselves as a defense and counter-attack.”
But the Buffalo defense had to wait three weeks to hit back against Cincinnati’s opening salvo.
The Bengals have been red hot from the jump for a month.
GO DEEPER
How holstering a superpower by Joe Burrow is helping fuel the Bengals’ run
Take their playoff opener, first three series against the Ravens in the regular-season finals, lone completed series against the Bills, and first three series in Week 16 against the New England Patriots, and the Bengals have six touchdowns and three field Goals scored with zero punts or turnovers. Everything against quality competition.
“The first 15 games are in the script,” said Hyde, who was sidelined all season with neck surgery back in practice recently. “You are in a flow, a rhythm. As a defense, you don’t panic about that.”
The Bills’ defense has given up a touchdown on opening drive six times.
“Teams usually plan their first 15 plays pretty well,” Poyer said. “So to say you’re going to stop every team on every opening drive is tough. It’s important to be able to handle adjustments during the game.”
Maybe the Bills’ security veterans still speak the same language.
Buffalo responded to Cincinnati with a long and varied field goal drive.
Josh Allen hit Stefon Diggs for 17 yards and then missed Isaiah McKenzie. Allen ran for 9 yards. Devin Singletary ran 3 yards to move the chains. Allen crawled 5 yards and found Diggs again 9 yards. James Cook took the next two carries 18 yards.
Allen then found the rarely used Reggie Gilliam for 7 yards on what would have been the fullback’s second goal in nearly three months, a potential lead for Cincinnati’s defensive staff. Allen’s next two throws were incomplete.
“We’ll probably have the same game plan,” Bates said, “because we didn’t get to show that much. Can’t really say much about those first few rides because you just don’t know the first 15 tracks. They kind of sense how we adjust to things and all that stuff.”
There’s that 15-play reference again.
Bass took the chipshot and then short-kicked to Trayveon Williams, who returned it 26 yards. Mixon ran for 7 yards and Burrow threw 13 yards down the middle to Tee Higgins in the final game.
“It’s like watching your upcoming opponent’s third preseason game,” Hyde said. “You pay attention to what your starters did on that opening drive, but you understand they could change it. You never know.”
Saffold pointed out that all NFL matchups are guessing games, regardless of what is already known. Teams go deep into the film space, sometimes for years, hoping to find a strategic clue.
“We’re back at Square One,” Bates said. “You won’t know what we’re up to. We won’t know what they have planned for this week. We’ll go in like any other week and watch the video and make sure we’re prepared.”
Bill’s defensive tackle Tim Settle declined to go into the details of what transpired three weeks ago.
Regardless, he reflected, every bit of information is gobbled up and adjustments made.
“I’m not trying to go back and think about it,” Settle said. “You couldn’t say anything. It was too early in the game but we’ll be ready whether they try the same or not.
“We will not beat around the bush. We’ll get straight to the point. We were in this situation. They could bring Joe Montana whoever they want. It does not matter. We will just keep reaching out to them.”
Contribution: Paul Dehner Jr and Jay Morrison
(Photo: Dylan Buell/Getty Images)