The Bengals have a real shot to win if…
From Leigh: If the Bengals win on Sunday, it will likely be because they take care of the football. Joe Burrow once led the league in interceptions and was riding a five-game streak where he threw at least one pick. He’s not playing what he refers to as “hero ball” anymore though and hasn’t thrown a pick in the last three games. The Bengals are 2-1 in those games and should have beat the 49ers in Week 14 but the rest of the team couldn’t hold onto the football. Darius Phillips muffed 2 punts and that led to 10 points gifted to the 49ers. That was the swing right there.
Our take: This sounds somewhat familiar for Chiefs fans as Patrick Mahomes was forced to go through the same sort of alterations on a macro level, away from the heroics and shouldering a load he didn’t need. This has helped allow the Chiefs to minimize mistakes and the results of eight straight wins speak for themselves. This focus will be equal on both sides with each team wanting to stave off the aggressive nature that comes with playing from behind.