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An inside look at Sunday’s AFC championship game between the Bengals and Chiefs in Kansas City:
Marquee matchup
Receiver matchup: Bengals vs. Chiefs defensive backs
The Bengals have one of the best receiving corps in the league, anchored by Joe Burrow’s favorite target, Ja’Marr Chase, who set the Cincinnati single-game record with 266 receiving yards in last year’s triumph over Kansas City. This season, Chase caught 87 catches for 1,046 yards and nine touchdowns in just 12 games. Tee Higgins completed 74 receptions for 1,049 yards and seven touchdowns. The Chiefs will attempt to counter with a secondary that typically consists of three rookie cornerbacks and one rookie safety.
Steve Spagnuolo, defensive coordinator for the Chiefs, stated, “Hopefully we’ve matured enough to match what they put out there.” “We are going up against an excellent group. We must play an excellent game. We must play our most impressive game of the year.”
Patrick Mahomes’ ankle sprain will likely hinder his performance, and the Chiefs’ defense won’t be able to stop the Bengals’ running attack. Burrow has a perfect 4-0 record against Mahomes.
Bengals 24, Chiefs 23
Four falls
The Bengals will be tasked with slowing down Travis Kelce, who had a career-high 110 receptions and 12 touchdowns this season for the Chiefs. Similarly, he has been an absolute beast in the playoffs. Kelce has played in 10 games over the past four postseasons and has 77 receptions for 964 yards and 12 touchdowns. He grabbed four catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns last week. Kelce has caught at least one touchdown pass in each of his previous four postseason contests.
What is the hurry? Last week, Kansas City defensive end Frank Clark, who has struggled during the regular season, recorded his 12th career sack against the Jacksonville Jaguars. This ties Reggie White for fourth place among all players since 1982, when sacks became an official statistic. In contrast, Chiefs defensive end Chris Jones, who frequently appears unblockable and had 15.5 sacks during the regular season, has yet to record a sack in the postseason. Against the Jaguars, he had only one tackle and one quarterback hit.
We cannot discuss the Bengals’ postseason chances without noting their wounded offensive line. Last week, they defeated the Bills despite missing three starters. Jackson Carman began his first NFL game at tackle, subbing for Jonah Williams (knee). Hakeem Adeniji began his third game of the season at right tackle in lieu of La’el Collins (knee), and Max Scharping started his second game at right guard in place of Alex Cappa (ankle). As of Friday, neither Cappa nor Williams were practicing at full capacity, and head coach Zac Taylor stated that neither is expected to participate. Last week, however, the line combination demolished the Buffalo front seven, creating enormous openings for running back Joe Mixon. “They were mauling men,” stated Mixon.
Andy Reid’s accomplishments as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs cannot be dismissed. His most recent postseason victory last week gave him 10 with the Chiefs, following 10 with the Eagles. Reid is tied with Hall of Famer Tom Landry for second place in NFL history with 20 postseason victories, trailing only Bill Belichick with 31. Ten times in the past 22 seasons, Reid has led a team to the conference championship game, including 2001-2004, 2008, and the last five seasons with Kansas City. Belichick (13) and Landry (15) are the only coaches with more conference title appearances in the Super Bowl era (12).
»Bengals vs. Chiefs: Preview, prediction, and things to keep an eye out for«