Evaluating the KC Chiefs remaining regular season opponents
By Josh Fann
Cincinnati Bengals
Coming in Week 16 is the Cincinnati Bengals who started off as one of the hottest teams in football this year, mostly due to their explosive young offense featuring Joe Burrow at quarterback, a trio of Ja’Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd, and Tee Higgins at wide receiver, and Joe Mixon who is one of the more underrated running backs in the league. However, they’ve lost four of their last seven games and now find themselves at 8-6. Their status in the AFC North fluctuates from week to week.
An inconsistent team for sure, the Bengals almost lost to the Denver Broncos this past weekend without Teddy Bridgewater which would have been a season-changing loss. They can score at any moment, but they also make a lot of mistakes as they have a -4 turnover differential this year. For as much grief as Patrick Mahomes has gotten for his interception woes, Joe Burrow has been a lot worse with 14 and he doesn’t necessarily have the dropped passes excuse that Mahomes gets on a lot of his from this season.
I would expect a turnover or two in this game from the Bengals offense which could very well be the difference. The Chiefs defense stepped up against the Chargers who have a lot of similar talent to Cincinnati on offense and that was without their best player at each level of the defense. With a healthy group of play-makers, look for an interception or forced fumble to be had in this match-up.
The Bengals defense has some work to do, but they do have the ability to disrupt drives from time to time. Starting defensive end Trey Hendrickson will certainly be a handful for this offensive front as he has recorded a sack in 10 straight games.
To me, the Bengals offer a challenge to the Chiefs, but I ultimately think they are a young team that will make mistakes and plays this game right into the Chiefs’ hands who are the more experienced and mature football team. If this game was played earlier this year I would say the Chiefs lose, but at this point, I have a hard time seeing the red hot Chiefs and the Andy Reid-Patrick Mahomes duo losing to Zac Taylor and Joe Burrow.