Chiefs vs. Bengals: AFC Championship Game Preview | KCSN Daily 1.27
The Chiefs and Bengals meet Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium in a rematch of last year's forgettable performance. Here's the KCSN Game Preview, presented by our friends at Tickets For Less.
A trip to the Super Bowl is on the line Sunday night as the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals meet once again for the AFC Championship - with no shortage of storylines heading into this matchup.
From the over-analyzing of how ankles are looking during stretching periods to the Bengals’ players name-changing the Chiefs’ home to Burrowhead - it’s time to play football.
None of this will matter to the team that loses.
A Chance For A "Pinch Me" Moment For Chiefs Fans
For the past five seasons, Patrick Mahomes has done things on the football field that no one else can do. He’s changed how the game is played, how quarterbacks are evaluated, and has made an elevated brand of football look easy.
It was 34 years between the Chiefs drafting quarterbacks Todd Blackledge and Mahomes in the first round. Despite clamoring for one of their own, the powers that be refused to invest their prime draft capital into the position for a generation. Chiefs fans not only finally got their first round pick, but were rewarded for their wait with quite literally the best quarterback in a generation.
The Mahomes era has been surreal, but the constant brilliance we’ve been treated to numbs fans to what they’re seeing. It’s not that Chiefs fans take for granted what they’re watching, it’s that Mahomes makes it near impossible to stop and appreciate what we’re seeing. He’s that good. He’s that consistently amazing. He puts things on tape that no one else in the league is, and it’s still difficult to appreciate over time.
The first two seasons of the Mahomes era were such a whirlwind. He provided fans so many fans “pinch me” moments where they couldn’t believe that this kind of talent is playing for their favorite football team. The anxiety of finally achieving a Super Bowl brought a sigh of relief. It’s been a little different since then. It’s become easier to normalize greatness.
Which brings us to Sunday. The Cincinnati Bengals come to town to try and beat the Chiefs in Arrowhead for a second straight year in the AFC Championship Game. They’ve been the biggest point of adversity for this organization the past two years. The Chiefs blew a 21-3 lead last season to deny their third straight appearance in the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs (and Mahomes) are 0-3 against Burrow’s Bengals. The narratives surrounding Mahomes’ legacy because of this are exhausting.
Sunday is setting up for a chance for fans to experience another “pinch me” moment. The anxiety is heavy having to face the Bengals again. Complicating things further, Mahomes will attempt to finally exorcize the demons on a high ankle sprain.
If Mahomes is able to add this win to his legacy, it will be hands down the biggest moment in his already unbelievable career since winning the Super Bowl. This is the biggest opportunity in three years to remind everyone just how special he is, and for us to fully comprehend what we’re watching, and appreciate the physical and mental toughness that people take for granted.
The cards are stacked against him, adversity has struck, and he and this organization have a chance to change narratives and show everyone who is the class of the AFC again. The stage is set for fans to be reminded in a big way how special this era of Chiefs football is.
Matchup to Watch: Chris Jones vs Bengals IOL
A year after allowing 51 sacks in 2021-22, the Cincinnati Bengals prioritized shoring up their offensive line. They went out and added Alex Cappa and La’el Collins in free agency, then drafted Cordell Volson to help protect Joe Burrow. Through most of the season, the Bengals were an improved pass rush – until they went through some attrition along the line. Collins was placed on IR, and Cappa and Jonah Williams went through stretches of time where they weren’t available. Heading into Sunday’s game against the Chiefs, the Bengals will only have 2/5ths of their first-choice offensive line available to them.
Chiefs fans are familiar with this scenario. The Bengals path to this point is eerily similar to that of the Chiefs’ 2020-21 Super Bowl run. A depleted offensive line became even more depleted in the playoffs, but the Chiefs’ offense was still able to move the ball and put points on the board. In the lead-up to that Super Bowl, there was a focus placed on the Chiefs starting several backups along the line, but the general consensus from the media – and the Vegas spread – had faith on the Chiefs’ offense to still create plenty of points, even against a solid pass rush.
The Bengals are coming off of a dominant performance against the Buffalo Bills (hello, 2020-21 Chiefs!) despite their offensive line woes. The national media believes that the Bengals are still going to put points on the board through their excellent offensive weapons, and the Vegas spread – despite oscillating between the two teams as favorites – is giving their offense a lot of grace. Cappa and Williams being ruled out against the Chiefs this weekend won’t move the line or the media perception of this team, as they’ll still be expected to put points on the board against this Chiefs defense.
The problem is: Chris Jones and the Chiefs defensive line are on the other side of the ball.
Jones has been absolutely dominant throughout the season, tying a season high in sacks and being a force against the run. This has easily been the best season of his career. Now he’s facing the motivating factor for this spike in play in Burrow and the Bengals. Nobody on this defense wants to stop the Bengals offense more than Jones, if only to exercise the demons of the end of last season. He’ll be on the hunt for negative plays and defensive impact to help cement his legacy in Kansas City.
Jones has an opportunity to wreck the game against a set of backup offensive linemen. He has to be absolutely salivating at the opportunity to get quick wins against the Bengals offensive line and pressure Burrow before he can get the ball away. If he continues to play as well as he has this season, he could single-handedly tilt the game entirely in the Chiefs favor. For Chiefs fans that remember the horrors of Super Bowl LV, this might be a cleansing experience on their way to another Super Bowl appearance.
Scheme Spotlight
The Bengals and Chiefs are facing off for the fourth time in two seasons and this often leads to two teams knowing each other incredibly well. In the regular season matchup earlier this season the Bengals’ had a ton of success running the football and working their passing game off of that success. It’s a different process than the Bengals had for much of the early parts of the season. They’ve continued that trend into the playoffs and the run game has become one of the key parts of their offensive success.
Stopping the Bengals’ Rushing Attack
The Bengals base their rushing attack out of interior runs; most notably Inside Zone and Duo. They do a good job mixing the two up from under-center and shotgun which changes the angles of the blocks for defenders despite still trying to attack the defense in the same way. On this Duo run out of shotgun, both double teams connect and create moves giving the running back an easy read.
The RB is able to influence the MIKE linebacker to the wrong gap before cutting back to the backside of the play for a chunk gain. The Chiefs LBs were specifically poor at dealing with Duo and Inside Zone vs the Bengals (and Jaguars) making this a massive test for them. Playing less passive and more downhill can go a long way in forcing some negative runs and making the Bengals think twice about pounding the rock.
One hurdle with playing aggressive vs these interior runs are handling the Bengals curve balls. They base their run game from those two staple plays but every week they have a “new” run play that they like to feature for that game. Against the Chiefs earlier this season that run was Wham & Trap and it put the Chiefs second level defenders in a complete blender. As the defenders fly downhill they are easily sealed off by the wham and trap blocks giving wide open cut back lanes if no one can identify the play quickly.
It’s a big task for the Chiefs front 7 this week because of how dynamic the Bengals passing game can be but stopping the run may be key. Forcing the Bengals to play out of their comfort zone and through the pass first may be the key to beating them during this fourth matchup in two years.
(Photo via NFL)
Remember, vote for Kansas City Chiefs 2022 NFL Fan of the Year Nominee Dr. Amy Patel. You can vote multiple times until polls close on Wednesday, Feb. 9. Click the image above to listen to KCSN’s BJ Kissel exclusive interview with Dr. Patel.