The Cincinnati Bengals did not particularly enjoy dealing with the Baltimore Ravens’ offense in Sunday’s playoff game, at least based on one quote from a key defender.
Bengals safety Jessie Bates took a shot at Baltimore’s run-heavy system on Monday as he previewed the team’s divisional round game against the Buffalo Bills. Bates said he was glad that to get back to playing “normal football” against the Bills instead of facing the “triple option.”
"We'll be back to normal football this week… We're excited to play normal football, not the triple option. Now is the time to focus on Buffalo." Jessie Bates.
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) January 16, 2023
Baltimore leans on a run-first system designed around quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley. It suits them, especially with Jackson under center, and seems to at least annoy opposing defenses used to more traditional schemes.
The Ravens kept Sunday’s game competitive and nearly tied it on the final play, but the Bengals were able to outlast them. Still, based on some postgame comments, one Ravens player may be even more disillusioned with the system than Bates is.
