On Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals’ defense made some subtle adjustments that completely changed the outcome of the AFC Championship. What made their performance so fun to watch was the number of different looks and coverages defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s squad used to defend the Chiefs’ usually explosive offense; Cover 1, Cover 3, Inverted Tampa-2. They dropped eight defenders into coverage, used spies and brackets, while rushing three, four and five.
These subtle differences in critical situations forced Patrick Mahomes to look for different receivers deep, which ended up being his ultimate demise.
“They just had a spy on me for the most part,” Mahomes said after the Chiefs’ 27-24 loss. “I usually do a good job of getting around that guy, but they had a good game plan. They were doing a lot of similar stuff in the first half. We were just executing at a higher level, and they stayed with it. They fought and that’s a good football team, but it takes a lot of fight to stay in a game whenever you’re down like that, but I’ve got to be better. When you’re up 21-3 at one point in the game, you can’t lose it. I put that on myself.”
The Bengals dared the Chiefs to run the ball on several third downs, but knowing Andy Reid, and a rushing attack being his Achilles heel, it’s just one thing the Bengals knew he wouldn’t do. So as the Chiefs played a one-dimensional offense, which made it easier for the Bengals to adjust against the pass. They made subtle changes that rattled Mahomes, such as the switches, spot drops and brackets which made him second guess his open windows.
Mahomes can’t be the grim reaper if the Bengals’ defense refuses to die!
A pre-snap read for a quarterback is everything, so mixing up the looks on defense was key for the Bengals. Not only did they switch the number of safeties over the top, but they also disguised their zone and man coverages, which kept Mahomes guessing.
On the clip above, the Bengals switched from a two-high safety look to only one safety. This put more defenders in the middle of the field to clump up the mesh crossers concept, which the Chiefs run often.
Once Mahomes saw the switch pre-snap, he was forced to go through all of his reads, and that resulted in a scramble sack.
The Twitter world was convinced that the Bengals made these switches at the half, when really, these were things they did throughout the whole entire game.
In the second quarter, the Bengals inverted the previous look — this time, they dropped the two defensive backs deep and had the deep safety step up to the middle of the field defending the hi-lo routes. This play resulted in a checkdown from Mahomes.
Not only did the defensive backs disguise their deep coverage, but also on the backside of the trips (bottom of screen) the Bengals’ corner lined up in press coverage which disguised their zone. This happened several times throughout the game.
In the clip below, we see it again against Tyreek Hill, who is lined up in the slot and also against Travis Kelce who is in motion. Cincinnati’s defenders don’t follow them upfield.
Right as Mahomes drops back into the pocket, he expects Hill to have beaten his man one-on-one. But right as Hill reaches the top of his route, middle linebacker Logan Wilson and the Safety Vonn Bell both step up into the lane, forcing Mahomes to throw it to the flat.
When the Chiefs came out in trips, the Bengals did a great job clogging the middle of the field with safety, no. 24, Vonn Bell. The backside safety would step up; this tool is called “stubbie”. Which I learned from Coach Vass while tuning into his YouTube channel, Coach Vass Football, where he breaks down in detail NFL games after each week. Also check out his Make Defense Great Again Podcast.
These subtle adjustments made in the secondary were often when number one receiver, Hill or number two, Kelce were running vertical.
On the very next play, we can see it is used again which helps the defensive line get a sack.
“Stubbie” often isolated other players on the outside. Unfortunately, Mahomes never looked their way. which caused his offense to suffer as they punted the ball four times in the second half.
Instead of the Bengals ditching their gameplan, as they were down by eleven, they just became more physical and focused on communication. This is when the defense really started to gain the momentum.
Before the half came to a close, the Chiefs lined up with two receivers to the short side of the field. Once the ball was snapped, they both crossed each other which often is referred to as a pick or rub route.
In order for the Bengals defense to not get sucked into a collision, the cornerback Eli Apple makes a critical switch, picking up Hill as he runs across the line of scrimmage.
This was one of the plays that was a turning point of the game.
Later on, the Bengals defense avoided another clash at the line of scrimmage because of communication. At the bottom right-hand side, No. 21 and No, 22 are behind one another at the line of scrimmage. Instead of calling a switch if the receivers cross, one defender steps up and jams at the line of scrimmage, making a clear lane for nickel cornerback, Mike Hilton, to keep up with his receiver in the flat.
What makes this defensive play call so interesting is the Bengals actually drop eight guys as Mahomes scrambles to try and find a open man.
The Bengals did this a few times in the red zone. On the very next play of the game, the defense had a Tampa-2 look as linebacker Logan Wilson dropped into coverage.
As the Chiefs ran an empty formation, the communication by the Bengals had to be seamless. This was really where they played their best ball.
The key was to bracket Kelce and Hill with two defenders each, and force Mahomes to look for other guys.
By the end of the game, Mahomes looked defeated. The Chiefs made several questionable play calls throughout the day. They called back-to-back screens after the first one was intercepted by a lineman, and then in overtime, the offense came out with 12 personnel on third-and-10. The Chiefs just didn’t know how to adjust.
All the switches, disguises, brackets, and spot drops became too much for Mahomes. The longer he held onto the ball, the chances were raised for the pass rush to get home.
The game plan wasn’t a simple one and the defensive backs nearly played a perfect game. This was the primary reason the Bengals were able to move onto Super Bowl LVI.
