It’s a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship between the Bengals and the Chiefs. The Bengals crushed the Bills in snowy Buffalo while the Chiefs narrowly won against the Jags. Two giants of the AFC clash together at Arrowhead stadium and it should be an excellent game between Mahomes and Burrow.
The Bengals are coming to Kansas City in great form as they just took apart Josh Allen’s team last week. They got off to a hot start by scoring 14 in the 1st quarter and set the tone for the entire game. They never looked under pressure and were just so cool in that match. One thing that I expect from Cincinnati is that they’ll blitz a lot at the beginning. They’re definitely going to test Mahomes’s movement and his mobility. The defense was marvelous against the Bills and now they go up against another star quarterback. I want the Bengals to run the ball a lot in this game and give it to Mixon. We’ve seen their passing game and now I want to see more of the ground game. What impresses me the most is how well they could play even without their star offensive tackles. Burrow was only sacked once and he crushed the defense. This Cincinnati Bengals team looks threatening and they look like real contenders to go back to the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs beat the Jacksonville Jaguars last weekend and I don’t think the scoreline does justice for that game. It was 27-20 but the Chiefs had to play without Mahomes for a while and he was hobbling for most of the game after that. Chad Henne came into the 2nd quarter and led a 98 yard touchdown drive for Kansas City. Mahomes came into the game in the 2nd half but his movements were still not as fluid and good as before. In this game, I feel like we saw glances of the Chiefs run game when Mahomes was out. Pacheco had 57 yards on the Henne drive and we saw glimmers of how well KC can run. They don’t run the ball a lot with Mahomes on the field but it would be better if Pacheco got more action. I’d like to see more touches for Pacheco and McKinnon in this game. We saw a lot of Kelce in this game and I want to see more of the Chiefs wide receivers. Over four receivers, they combined for 83 yards and only 10 catches. That is not good enough and the ball has to be distributed to them more. This game will be a big test for Andy Reid’s team and it should be a battle.
I believe that the Bengals will win this game 30-24. The last 3 meetings these teams have had have all been decided by 3 points. I think that this will be another close encounter but the Bengals will win for the 4th straight time. The Bengals have been playing really well and I don’t think a little Mahomes magic can make Kansas City win. Burrow is in form and everything is coming together for the Bengals. The Chiefs are not the same team as last year and I feel like some of their fire has disappeared. The Chiefs receivers haven’t gotten involved enough and they are not running the ball as much as they should be. I don’t see the Chiefs winning and the Bengals will head back to the Super Bowl. This game is available to watch on CBS and Paramount+ at 6:30 PM on Sunday.
Like last year, the winner of this game goes on to play in the big game, the Super Bowl. Will Joe Burrow lead Cincy to Super Bowl LVI in Arizona or will Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs get revenge on Zac Taylor’s team? We’ll find out in what should be a tight affair from Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night.
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