The Bengals and Bills will both be bleeding red this weekend.
Why the color red? Because both teams will give their best efforts on both sides of the ball inside their respective 20-yard lines, aka, the red zone.
If the adage "defense wins championships" has any merit, the Bengals proved that in their wild card win over the Ravens last weekend thanks to Sam Hubbard's fumble return that will forever be discussing in Cincinnati sports lore. That may have been the Bengals' biggest red zone stop of the season and one of the biggest in franchise history.
The Bengals' defense will need that this Sunday when they battle one-time MVP favorite and Bills quarterback Josh Allen for the right to play in the AFC title game. Despite playing one drive against the Bills' offense in their initial Monday Night Football meeting before it was cancelled, the Bengals stopped Allen in the red zone and forced Buffalo to kick a field goal.
However, the key won't just be stopping Allen in the red zone. Cincinnati will have to allow Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and his offense to operate efficiently when he's inside the 20-yard line this weekend. Buffalo's red zone defense will go against a high-powered Bengals red zone offense that's fifth in the league in red zone touchdown scoring percentage.
So, whether they're going against Allen or relying on Burrow, the Bengals need to win in the red zone.
The Strictly Stripes crew breaks down what has to work in the red zone for the Bengals on both sides of the ball. Speaking of quarterbacks, they reopen the debate on whether Allen or Burrow is the superior quarterback.
Local 12 Cincinnati columnist Richard Skinner also joins the crew as a special guest.
This podcast features Mohammad Ahmad and Andrew Gillis.
Music: Starfields by Hallman
Music Link: https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/nQ9ldbVF7D/
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