“Mike and Drew are so smart. They know where the defense’s pockets are and Joe knows how to find them,” All said.

Allen had four catches for 32 yards, including the same 19-yard out he had run in practice. A product of the Cincinnati suburb of Fairfield, he looks right at home.

“It sucks that we lost, but it was promising,” All said. “We’re going to use this to add fuel to the fire. We played great there. I think we’re going to grow from this and be a better team.”

They also clearly think highly of another rookie on the other side. Safety Anthony, who was stung with two huge penalties. For pass interference on fourth-and-16 when he hit wide receiver Rashee Rice from behind early, Anthony was penalized for holding tight end Travis Kelce and he wiped away an interception by cornerback DJ Turner.

But Anthony was part of the contingent that stoned the 11,000-Yard Man by limiting Kelce to one catch for five yards. Anthony played just nine snaps, but those came at premium times against Patrick Mahomes in passing situations.

“He’s done a great job in training camp. There’s always a role for these guys to show that it’s not too big for them,” Taylor said. “That’s what we expect from Daijahn. I’m proud of these young guys for taking the opportunity.”

Anthony will undoubtedly be coached by veteran safety Vonn Bell in the second-only meeting on Tuesday’s off day. Bell said Sunday that it’s another brick in the wall.

“He did it in training camp. He went out there and made plays. When your number is called, it’s time,” Bell said. “It’s a day-to-day competition, a week-to-week competition. You see it on tape, you correct it and make plays as they come.”

If anyone knows the moment, it’s Bell. It was his interception in overtime of the 2021 AFC title game that helped propel them to the Super Bowl.

“Emotional. A playoff environment,” said Bell, who liked how they bounced back. “This is playoff football, AFC football. We’ll probably see them later. This is one of those games you’ve got to finish out.

“We were flying around, playing complementary football, making plays on the ball, the offense was getting first downs. We just have to find a way to finish.”

Hubbard has an idea of ​​how Anthony feels. He remembers the third game of his career. In 2018. In Carolina. It came a week after his first sack against Baltimore.

“I thought it was going to be easy,” Hubbard said. “I missed the fumble on Cam Newton. I missed the blocked punt. Both plays would have won the game. Only at my expense.

“A dose of reality. This league is about adversity. We all could have made the play to win the game. There’s no play anywhere. It’s up to all of us. (The penalty) could have gone either way. We did a good job stopping them. (The penalty) could have gone either way. We did a good job putting them in that position. We’ve got to stop them next time.”

And they came out of it with the idea that they had shown that there could be a next time.

When asked if he thinks he’ll see his old team in the playoffs again, left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. had one word to say, though there were many words.