Cincinnati lost there in Week 17 last year and that ended the team’s playoff chances, while Kansas City went on to win a second straight Super Bowl. The Bengals have won seven of the last 10 meetings, including two during their own run to the Super Bowl to close the 2021 season, but the Chiefs have won the two most recent contests.
“We take every opponent pretty seriously, but obviously we don’t like Kansas City very much so that does help (turn the page),” second-year wide receiver Andrei Iosivas said.
This is the sixth meeting of the teams in four years, and each of the last five games have been one-score affairs, including four that were three-point results. In the Week 17 meeting last year, Cincinnati had a 17-13 lead at halftime but the Chiefs pitched a second-half shutout and rallied for the 25-17 win.
The Chiefs also stunned the Bengals in the AFC Championship the year before when a personal foul helped set up Harrison Butker’s game-winning field goal with three seconds left for the 23-20 victory.
Kansas City still boasts six-time Pro Bowler and two-time league MVP Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, and the Chiefs offense once again is expected to be among the best in the league after an up-and-down regular season in 2023. Mahomes has wide receiver Rashee Rice and tight end Travis Kelce back as his top targets, and rookie first-round draft pick Xavier Worthy adds to the mix.
Isiah Pacheco leads the running game after rushing for 935 yards and seven touchdowns in just 14 games last year, and former Bengals third-down specialist Samaje Perine joined Kansas City after he was released by the Broncos with final roster cuts. Chiefs veteran left guard Joe Thuney is a native of Centerville and an Alter High School grad.
Last year, while the offense struggled at times early, the Chiefs’ defense picked up the slack. Kansas City ranked second in points allowed and total yards surrendered, and the defense allowed the third-fewest first downs in the NFL.
“I would just say overall I would characterize them as an aggressive, challenging defense,” Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. “They have a seasoned coordinator (Steve Spagnuolo) who isn’t afraid to put pressure on the offense. They play with confidence. They’ve added good players in the secondary over the last couple of years that allows them to play a certain kind of way. We expect to be challenged and we’ll put a good plan in place to give it our best shot.”
Safeties Justin Reed and Bryan Cook and cornerback Trent McDuffie return, and five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Chris Jones is still leading the way up front as someone who will cause problems for Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ offensive line.
In the last five matchups against the Bengals, Jones has five sacks, six tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hits. In two of those games, Cincinnati held him without a sack or quarterback hit, and the Bengals won both of those — one of those was in the AFC Championship at the end of the 2021 season and the other was a December 2022 meeting in Cincinnati.
“One of the most challenging defenders to prepare for in all football,” Pitcher said. “Just a rare combination of size, strength and explosiveness. His get-off for a man that size, rare, really, rare, challenging to prepare for. When you have an interior player that is that dynamic, sometimes that even poses you more challenges than an edge player that’s that dynamic because of the tools that are available to you schematically to try to help. There’s ways to do it, and we’ll figure out how. But excellent player, and he really makes their unit, go.”
SUNDAY’S GAME
Bengals at Chiefs, 4:25 p.m., CBS, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
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