Chiefs vs. Bengals: What if Tyrann Mathieu is unable to play?

The Kansas City Chiefs win against the Buffalo Bills in Sunday’s Divisional Round was no doubt one for the ages. But the close win didn’t come without its losses, as the Chiefs had a couple of players get injured throughout the game.

None was as big as Tyrann Mathieu, who left the game after the very first drive because he was accidentally kicked in the head by his own player, suffering a concussion. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and boy, Chiefs fans should’ve grown even more fond of the star safety after this game.

After the Landlord left the game, the Chiefs defense experienced a noticeable shift. Juan Thornhill, Armani Watts, and Daniel Sorensen filled in, but it was clear that the back end was struggling against one of the best quarterbacks in the league. It wasn’t just the safety position that struggled though, the whole defensive backfield seemed out of sync at times.

After his concussion on Sunday, the Chiefs sorely missed Tyrann Mathieu. What will it mean if he can’t play again this Sunday?

That shouldn’t come as a surprise. Mathieu is the undisputed leader of the defense (along with Chris Jones up front), and without him, the DBs seemed to suffer from a lack of communication at times. Josh Allen was able to hit his receivers at will it seemed like, and nothing punctuated this quite like the Bills’ final drive where they effortlessly went 75-yards in less than a minute.

Almost every touchdown by the Bills almost looked too easy—and that was scary. Sometimes it even looked like the receivers were just left wide open in the end zone. Clearly, Mathieu’s presence was missed.

But what does it mean for the upcoming fourth straight AFC Championship games against the Bengals? It won’t be good for the Chiefs if Mathieu he’s unable to clear concussion protocol, but it may not be the end of the world. It’s true that the Bengals could blast the Chiefs through the air, especially with Ja’Marr Chase, as they did a month ago. But they did that while Mathieu was playing.

The good news is a report from Bob Fescoe says Mathieu is expected to be okay. Of course, there’s nothing on the record there, so we can only wait and see.

If Mathieu cannot go, the biggest concern could be the communication issues, but if the Chiefs practice without Mathieu all week, and prepare with the assumption that he’s going to be out, then Spags should be able to prep his DBs to have a better communication game plan.

I think the Chief’s defensive line is going to feast against the Bengals’ offensive line (Joe Burrow was sacked a whopping 9 times last weekend against the Titans.) This should buy the backfield time and help them out if Mathieu is out.

I just hope the Honey Badger can recover from his concussion quickly, not just for the Chiefs, but for his own long-term health. Regardless of his status, I think the Chiefs will get it figured out and the Chiefs will handily beat the Bengals en route to their third straight Super Bowl.