KC Chiefs vs. Bengals: Cincinnati is very confident heading into AFC Championship

The Kansas City Chiefs are currently in the midst of a revenge tour in the hopes that it leads them all the way to Super Bowl glory. The Buffalo Bills were the last team to step up and fall, but this round features a team waiting for them in the AFC Championship game that has already beaten them just a few weeks ago and then proceeded to knock off the top-seeded Tennessee Titans. That’s why the Cincinnati Bengals simply aren’t nervous at the thought of playing K.C. once again.

In light of the incredible matchup ahead featuring Joe Burrow versus Patrick Mahomes, we reached out to our good friend Leigh Oleszczak who is not only well acquainted with the Chiefs as a lifelong fan but also the Bengals in her time running Stripe Hype. We asked her to tell us about the Bengals health and mindset and what to expect on Sunday.

Joe Burrow’s run is certainly an impressive one lately. How would you rate him compared with other AFC quarterbacks who have also been on display lately?

Burrow is certainly up there as far as the great AFC quarterbacks go and he’s proved it these past few weeks. The guy is not even through his second full year in the league, yet look where he’s gotten his team. He’s also done this with a terrible offensive line blocking for him. Burrow isn’t better than Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, but I’d put him third, a notch above Justin Herbert.

What’s the confidence index for the team given that they just knocked off the top seed and already beat the Chiefs just a few weeks ago?

The team is feeling pretty good, as they should! Any time the Bengals are big underdogs (which they are once again in this game), they set out to prove people wrong. It’ll be a different story this time with the game being at Arrowhead but this team isn’t afraid of anyone, especially not the Chiefs. They know they can beat them because they’ve already done it.

Coming out of the Divisional Round, what are the primary concerns in a rematch with the Chiefs at this stage?

Did you watch the game on Saturday? The Bengals’ offensive line is abysmal so if the Chiefs can dial up any kind of pressure, it could be a long day for Burrow. Also, the Chiefs now have home-field advantage and have been to the title game three other times with this group. They know what these big games are like and that’s definitely a massive advantage.

How healthy are the Bengals at this point?

They’re pretty lucky in the health department honestly. They lost Larry Ogunjobi to IR last week and he was a beast up front on defense for them. Right tackle Riley Reiff has been out for roughly a month now and we all saw how his absence is going for this team when Isaiah Prince was beat time and time again against the Titans. Trey Hendrickson has been banged up the past few weeks but continues to fight through it. Things could be a heck of a lot worse though!

The Bengals were able to win despite so much heat on Joe Burrow. Do you think the Chiefs can get similar disruption?

Absolutely. The Chiefs pass rush is pretty hit and miss but they’re the kind of team that really takes advantage of teams’ mistakes. If someone like Chris Jones or Melvin Ingram can hit Burrow and get him to make a mistake, that’s all the Chiefs need to get off and running.