AFC Championship Breakdown & Prediction
The rematch from last year’s AFC championship is a full go with the Cincinnati Bengals traveling to the top seeded Kansas City Chiefs.
Cincinnati Bengals
In the divisional round the Bengals looked invincible against the Buffalo Bills. Joe Burrow continues to dominate 242 yards and two touchdowns. The Bills only got one sack even with the Bengals missing a few starters on the offensive line. They have good receiving core with Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. Chase was the leading receiver against the Bills with five receptions, 61 yards and a touchdown. With the Chiefs in front of them it’s a good time to remind everyone Chase had one of the best receiving games against the Chiefs last year in the regular season. He had 11 catches 266 yards and three touchdowns. There will be a lot of focus on him, but he is not the only one that can hurt you.
Bengals tight end Hurst had a good game against the Bills as well with 59 yards and a touchdown on five catches. The run game was clicking for them, Joe Mixon had 20 carries, 105 yards and a touchdown. If the Bengals can run against the Chiefs that will open up the passing game and Burrow is as good as anyone in the air, he can and will pick the Chiefs apart.
After a lackluster game against the Baltimore Ravens the Bengals, defense stepped up in a major way. Josh Allen only had 264 yards and an interception. They made the Bills run game seem non-existent holding them to 19 carries and 64 yards. They had one touchdown but that was the Bills only touchdown that came in the second quarter. The Bills top two receivers couldn’t get over 40 yards. Stefon Diggs had four catches for 35 yards and Gabriel Davis had two catches for 34 yards. Eliminating the deep ball and not letting the Bills get comfortable was key in last week’s win. Back in week 13 the Bengals once again got the best of the Chiefs 27-24.
Kansas City Chiefs
In the second quarter of the divisional game Patrick Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain. He left for the rest of the first half but returned in the second. Even on one leg Mahomes shows he is unlike any other, he threw for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Travis Kelce helped out with a career-high 14 catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Kelce will be the go to guy once again but back in week 13 when these two teams played the Bengals held Kelce to four catches and 56 yards. In the divisional round running back Isiah Pacheco ran well with 12 carries and 95 yards. The run game will be crucial in order to take pressure off Mahomes. The offensive line will have to play well in week 13 they only allowed two sacks and eight quarterback hits. Others on the outside will have to step up JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kadarius Toney and Marquez Valdes-Scantling just to name a few. This offense can put up points in a hurry but the Bengals have showed they can play with them. Burrow and the Bengals are 3-0 against the Chiefs.
The Chiefs pass rush will have to get to Burrow. They have the second most sacks in the league behind the Eagles and it is led by Chris Jones with 15.5. The pass defense wasn’t a strong point for them this season but it was against the Jaguars. They held Trevor Lawrence to 217 yards, a touchdown and interception and only allowed 5.6 yards per attempt. They dealt with the Jags receivers well but the Bengals receivers have given the Chiefs trouble over the last two games. Chase had 97 yards, Higgins scored and Boyd racked up 60 yards. Their tight end can disappear but also he can come up in a major way like he did last week. This Chiefs defense has had a lot of trouble with the Bengals since last year and I don’t expect that to change.
Bengals 31, Chiefs 28
