Cincinnati Bengals safety Jessie Bates is ready to get back to what he calls normal football in the divisional round against the Buffalo Bills.
It’s no secret the unique Baltimore Ravens offense gave the Bengals problems in the opening round of the postseason. While trying to contain what was effectively a triple-option look, the Bengals had uncharacteristic missed tackles, poor gap control and let up chunk plays.
Bates says getting past that attack and on to something more normal is a welcome feature of advancing.
“We won’t have to play triple option football against the Ravens this week. We’ll have our hands full with Josh Allen and all those guys and what they bring to the table,” Bates said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “So we’re excited to play normal football. The triple option thing was something that we’re happy that we got over it. And now it’s time to focus on Buffalo.”
Of course, normal doesn’t mean easy and Bates isn’t implying that. But the Bills won’t require some of the schematic wrinkles the Ravens did.
For example, having to go so heavy to contain the options, the Bengals hardly found any snaps for star corner Mike Hilton to play. But when he did, he still had a huge impact. He’ll be back to his big snap counts in Buffalo.
That’s just one example, of course. But it’s reasonable to expect the Bengals defense to get back to its usual self now that it isn’t playing a unique attack getting its third shot at Bates’ defense this season alone.
