Kansas City, Mo. ( Associated Press) – The Kansas City Chiefs have lost three straight games to the Cincinnati Bengals, including last year’s AFC Final, which they blew a 21-3 lead and lost under the incredulous eyes of thousands of fans. at Arrowhead Stadium.
Patrick Mahomes is expected to lead the Chiefs’ offense in Sunday night’s rematch against the Bengals despite a sprained right ankle. He has not beaten his Cincinnati counterpart Joe Burrow, the only quarterback to beat him three times in a row.
In other words, there’s some reason why the AL North champions exude some confidence when they return to Kansas City, where they’ll decide which team will win the conference and go to the Super Bowl.
“Your preparation gives you confidence. That’s what they see in Joe and all of our players,” said Bengals coach Zach Taylor, who somehow overcame Andy Reid and the Chiefs’ plans, strategies and performance over the past 13 months. Is. When my players take the field on Sunday, they will be relieved.
In fact, the Bengals are so confident that some have given the Chiefs a new name. They call it “Barrowhead Stadium”.
Of course, this incident has not been funny for the champion of the Western Division.
“I’m sure a lot of people are aware of the comments he’s making,” said receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.
It’s not like the Bengals, who eliminated the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round, have largely dominated the Chiefs, who beat the Jacksonville Jaguars despite Mahomes missing more than a quarter after his injury.
In each of their three meetings, the decision has been taken by a margin of just three points.
“We know what team we are playing against, a team that has been in this game for the last five seasons and has played in that stadium every time,” Burrows said. “So, for me, they’re still the team to beat. We’ll go for them, but we know it’s going to be tough. We know it’s going to be tough and we know the kind of players out there.” “
Their duel in the final last year was a classic. Mahomes threw three touchdown passes in the first half, and Burrow led a dramatic comeback for Cincinnati.
And when Harrison Butker converted a 41-yard field goal with no time left to send the game into overtime, the Bengals quickly intercepted a Mahomes pass. This was preceded by Evan McPherson’s field goal, which defined the game.
“They have reason to show confidence. They’ve won three games,” said Reid, who is trying to get Kansas City back to the Super Bowl for the third time in four seasons. “Okay. We still have to play the match.”
Along with this, the head also has faith in himself.
“I would say they know us and we know them. And we all look for that extra bit to take advantage of against them,” Reid said. “We played each other long enough to make sure That both teams feel equal.”
