Bengals talking big and feeling confident ahead of showdown with Bills

CINCINNATI - The Cincinnati Bengals - well, at least a couple - had themselves quite a week talking smack about this mega matchup with the Buffalo Bills Monday night.

“What people need to know and understand is we (are) the big dog of the AFC,” running back Joe Mixon told reporters in Cincinnati Saturday. “That’s just what it is. For anything to happen, it has to go through us.”

Hey, semantically, he’s right. Confidence is a huge part of being an NFL player, and make no mistake, the Bengals have plenty of it as they were beating their chests and leaning into the fact that until someone knocks them off, they are still the reigning AFC champions.

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However, as things stand before kickoff of the most anticipated game of the season, the AFC road to Super Bowl 57 would go through Orchard Park if the Bills take care of business at Paycor Stadium, and then do the same next week at Highmark Stadium against the Patriots.

To stay on that path, the biggest key to this game for the Bills is going to be how they defend the multi-pronged Bengals offense because, while it might be tough for the Bills and their rabid fans to admit, right now, Cincinnati has the more dangerous weapons.

Josh Allen has been amazing all season, but Joe Burrow has joined him, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts in the league MVP conversation because he’s as hot as any QB in the league in the second half of the season. The Bengals have really hit their stride during their seven-game winning streak, and Burrow is lighting it up by throwing to what may be the best threesome of wide receivers in the NFL, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd.

For the season, Chase, Higgins and Boyd have combined for 205 catches, 2,693 yards and 20 TDs and they rate a slight advantage over the Buffalo threesome of Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis and Isaiah McKenzie who have totaled 180 catches, 2,526 yards and 21 TDs. And remember, Chase missed four games with a knee injury.

Those numbers are close, but more recently, things skew toward Cincinnati. In the four games since Chase returned, the Bengals trio has 60 catches for 667 yards and six TDs. Buffalo’s trio has 39 catches for 445 yards and three TDs.

“They’ve got some really good receivers, and the quarterback is a good player as well,” Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said in his understated way. “It definitely presents some issues for you, but I think our guys are looking forward to the challenge and we’ll have our hands full.”

Frazier has full confidence in his defense, but Boyd gave the Bills something to think about when he questioned how good Buffalo’s defense is.

“It’s kind of basic,” Boyd said earlier in the week. “They don’t do too much disguising; it’s kind of straightforward. They don’t do all the trickery things that we’ve seen a lot from defenses.”

Specifically on the Buffalo secondary, Boyd turned it up a notch. “I think they play well together but (they’re) not the best that we’ve seen,” he said. “But they play together and they’re gonna play hard because this is one of the most important games on both sides. We’re gonna get their best for sure and I just feel like we can win in our matchups.”

Remember when Boyd was a hero in Buffalo, five years ago almost to the day, when he caught a 49-yard touchdown pass from Andy Dalton on a fourth-and-12 play to beat the Ravens, a Bengals victory that knocked their fierce AFC North rivals out of the playoffs and allowed the Bills to end their 17-year playoff drought?

He does, and he did say that he still hasn’t forgotten the monetary donations Bills fans gave to his foundation as a way to say thanks for his part in the play.

“I’ve got a lot of love and appreciation for what the fans did for me and my foundation,” Boyd said. “At the end of the day, we’re not friends this week, but I always respect and show them love. It helped me have more activities and more different things for the little guys to do besides just football.”

Still, his comments about the defense will ring in the ears of Bills fans, maybe even the Bills themselves.

As will this one from Mixon. When he was asked about the Bills’ dynamic duo at linebacker, Matt Milano and Tremaine Edmunds, Mixon threw shade their way, too.

“They’re a solid linebacker group, but they’re not the Ravens,” Mixon told The Athletic, meaning the duo of Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen. “I mean, they’re good. They get paid, too. I’m not saying they’re not good, but they’re not the Ravens.”

Game on, fellas. It should be a memorable one.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's new twice-a-week newsletter, Bills Blast, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Joe Mixon talking smack ahead of Bills vs. Bengals showdown