The Kansas City Chiefs travel to Cincinnati to take on Joe Burrow and the Bengals. After a lot of back-and-forth talk between the Chiefs secondary and Bengals receiving corp, the Chiefs look to avenge themselves after tough losses to the Bengals last year, specifically in the AFC Championship game.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are set to face the defending AFC Champions Cincinnati Bengals. After losing in the regular season and AFC Championship game, they look to get revenge and keep that No.1 seed in the AFC. After a lot of back-and-forth chatter because of Chiefs safety Justin Reid’s recent comments, this upcoming matchup between both teams will have a lot of emotion and tempers throughout. What should we expect in this AFC Championship game rematch between the two high-powered teams?
Offense
The offense in the last matchup was able to have a productive first half in both matchups last year, but eventually stalled in the second half. Defensively for the Bengals, they were able to get pressure with 4 and drop seven backs in coverage to take away the explosive plays from the Chiefs. The difference in this upcoming matchup is Mahomes utilizing all weapons and not looking to just target Hill or Kelce who were shut down in the second half.
Getting better in the intermediate game by having guys like Juju Smith-Schuster and Skyy Moore makes it more difficult for the Bengals’ secondary to focus on specific targets. Also, adding weapons like Marques Valdes Scantling and one of Mahomes’ secret favorite targets Justin Watson benefits the offense as a whole, keeping the sole attention off of Travis Kelce.
The Chiefs were also able to sign veteran Running Back Melvin Gordon to the practice squad, potentially going to the active roster after McKinnon was ruled out for Sunday’s game. The offense is loaded up for the game and should be effective if the playcalling is consistent and the proper adjustments are made as it goes on.
Defense
After Justin Reid’s recent comments this week following up on the game, the expectations for them have ramped up after back-and-forth comments between the Chiefs’ safety and Ja’Marr Chase. In last year’s matchup, Chase torched the defense as he had over 260 yards receiving and two touchdowns putting on a show in Ohio. In the AFC Championship game, he was quiet but they were still able to pull off the upset in Kansas City.
The key issue in those matchups was the defensive line not being able to bring down Burrow as they were able to get their hands on him, but his escapability was the difference that extended drives for the Bengals’ offense. In this matchup expect Spags to still dial up the pressure, but this time let his guys know they have to play until the whistle and make sure to complete the sack on Burrow. The secondary has to make sure to glue themselves to those wideouts and attempt to contest every ball thrown.
Chase and Higgins are receivers who are great in jump ball situations and will use their size to their advantage to complete the catch. McDuffie and Watson will have to stay aggressive on the outside keeping a hand on those elite wideouts and making it difficult to get open. Expect the safeties to be over the top more often in this game to avoid what we saw in the last matchups.
Prediction
Even though Joe Cool was able to best Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs last season, Arrowhead Live predicts the Chiefs to come out on top in this slugfest 31-27. The stat prediction for this upcoming matchup is Patrick Mahomes throwing for 340 yards and 3 touchdowns in the air. Expect Chris Jones to have a monster game getting two sacks on Joe Burrow and dismantling the interior offensive line of the Bengals.
For more Chiefs news, analysis, and articles follow Arrowhead Live on Twitter or visit our Website.
