Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton gets a shot at redemption against the Chiefs

[Arkansas Bengal]

Charlie Goldsmith, Cincinnati Enquirer

Fri, Dec 29, 2023, 5:01 AM CST·5 min read

 

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling was looking for a camera.

 

Last January, he broke away from Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton for a 19-yard touchdown in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium. But the go-ahead score in the third quarter wasn’t enough for Valdes-Scantling. He wanted to rub salt in the wound.Valdes-Scantling found a camera in the back of the end zone, ducked down and lowered his hand to the ground. It’s one of the most disrespectful taunts in the NFL. It means, “You’re too small.”

 

Hilton stoked the fire before last year’s AFC Championship Game, and then he had his worst performance of the season.

 

“We lost by three points,” Hilton says 11 months later. “If we held them to a field goal there, it might be a different game.”

 

 

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling caught the go-ahead touchdown pass under coverage from Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton in the AFC title game.

 

Hyped pregame, not so good in-game

 

Last year, Hilton coined “Burrowhead Stadium” and led the swaggering Bengals into Kansas City. Then, he got humbled by a Chiefs’ game plan that was designed to attack Hilton when he lined up in one-on-one coverage. He allowed the 19-yard touchdown, a 29-yard catch and committed a key defensive pass interference penalty in a game where the 6-foot-4 Valdes-Scantling totaled a season-high 116 receiving yards.

 

The 5-foot-9 Hilton got beat that day. But it didn’t change him.

 

“As a competitor, it’s frustrating,” Hilton said. “I didn’t make plays when I needed to. But that’s the nature of the game. You always have an opportunity to prove yourself again.”

 

 

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton's performance last year against the Chiefs stuck with him. He gets another chance this week.

 

The Bengals signed Hilton to provide the jolt that a team needs heading into a game like this week’s. A reeling Bengals secondary is heading back to Kansas City to face Patrick Mahomes, the best quarterback in the NFL.

 

Hilton has a long track record of changing these types of matchups. He blitzed Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill in the 2021 playoffs and tipped an interception to himself. He took over the Bengals’ 2022 playoff game against the Buffalo Bills with a barrage of blitzes, tackles and physical man-to-man coverage. Two weeks ago, he turned a must-win game against the Minnesota Vikings with an interception in the end zone.

 

“Veteran leadership is critical right now at this point in the year,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said.

 

“You go on the road in front of fans that are going to be loud, and so you got to do everything to bring that energy. Guys like Mike Hilton bring that to the table. I think that that's critical to us taking the field and trying to create some momentum there."

 

Big personality in undersized frame

 

Hilton said that you need this type of personality to make it in the NFL as an undersized and undrafted slot cornerback. He developed it at Sandy Creek High School when he helped lead the team to two state championships. He took it to another level at the University of Mississippi, where he looked forward all year to facing the University of Alabama. Hilton beat the Crimson Tide twice.

 

Before Hilton got to the Bengals, he carved out a spot in the NFL by taking advantage of preseason special teams reps. He clawed his way up the depth chart and became a big piece of the Stealers’ defense, but the Stealers passed on him when he hit free agency in 2021.

“I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I feel like I brought a different mentality when I came over here,” Hilton said. “Some winning intangibles and attitude and a want to. That’s how I was raised and how I was brought up. I love these moments, and I love when the pressure is at its highest. You can really reveal a lot of people’s characters when this weight is on your shoulders.”

 

 

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton showed his upside with a leaping pass breakup against Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson.

 

Hilton felt the bulk of that weight early in the season. He said he was trying to do too much to try to make up for what the Bengals were missing in the secondary. Without safeties Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell, Hilton tried to make more aggressive plays in coverage.

 

It didn’t work, and Hilton was looking for answers in a Bengals’ defense that has dropped off significantly in 2023.

 

“After a while, (safeties Dax Hill and Jordan Battle) settled in,” Hilton said. “I was able to settle myself down, play my game and be who I am.”

 

Hilton has raised his game down stretch

 

Over the last two months, while the rest of the secondary hasn’t been able to find its footing, Hilton has played some of the best football of his career. He found a new style of run blitz that regularly creates tackles for loss in the backfield.

 

He has been consistent in pass coverage, and he made one of the plays of the year in the Bengals’ defense as he knocked down a deep throw to Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson.

“Mike is our swiss army knife,” Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson said. “He does it all for us.”

 

On Sunday, Hilton gets his chance at redemption in a matchup that has stuck with him. A win would keep the Bengals’ playoff hopes alive, and it would also keep the Chiefs from clinching a division title.

Hilton said that he hasn’t specifically had this date circled on the calendar all year. But if there’s anyone who knows what this game means, it’s him.

 

“It’s one of the best rivalries in football,” Hilton said. “I’ve definitely added fire to it. That’s the competitive side of me. That’s no disrespect to them as a team. We know who they are and we know who we are. I’m confident in us.”

 

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/bengals-cornerback-mike-hilton-gets-110141244.html

[Jamie_B]

Hilton was not himself at the start of the season, but man has he come on.

 

He's our best CB because of all the things he does.

 

CTB is our 2nd. 

 

The rest of the 2ndary is super young and need reps.