The Bengals are ultimate revenge game for Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs

In a game that the Chiefs have undoubtedly had circled on their schedule since it came out in May, Kansas City prepares for the final (and most meaningful) revenge game left on the 2022 schedule against Cincinnati. 

How many storylines could you possibly come up with for this game? Honestly, if you sit and list the many reasons why Sunday’s AFC Championship game rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals is arguably the biggest game thus far of the NFL season, you could come away dizzy. Or at the very least, you’d be slightly dazed at the prospect of yet another meaningful late-season matchup between two of the premier teams in the NFL, let alone the AFC.

You’ve got the Bengals receiving corps going up against a revamped Chiefs secondary. You’ve got the Chiefs new look pass rush squaring off against the Bengals rebuilt offensive line. And of course, you have the marquee event: the NFL’s best quarterbacks in Patrick Mahomes taking on one of the brightest young QBs in the league in Joe Burrow. All of these things could lead an individual to a lack of clarity to a degree. How do we fix that?

There are no better thoughts than shower thoughts. Something about the combination of warm water hitting your head opening up the neural pathways and the steam clearing your sinuses to bring ample levels of oxygen to the brain really gets the juices flowing. If I’m in search of mental clarity or the right words for the right (or wrong) situation, the shower is typically where I find it. It’s also where I find my most effective responses to conversations that happened days, weeks, or months ago. It’s never in the moment; it’s always later on in the shower.

I’m not suggesting you stop what you’re doing and take a shower—mainly because you’re reading my blog—but if you’re in search of clarity for this game I’d say maybe start there. As far as the “perfect response at a much later date” portion of my ode to washbraining (shower thinking), that’s exactly how I imagine the Chiefs have felt all season long after letting not one, but two nearly sure-fire victories over the Cincinnati Bengals slip through their fingers in 2021. The final one obviously the biggest, with a trip to a third consecutive Super Bowl lost by a second consecutive second half against Cincinnati that saw KC put up only 3 points.

And while so much has happened between that last matchup at Arrowhead Stadium and the upcoming Mahomes-Burrow III face-off we get to tune into on Sunday, we find ourselves in nearly the exact same place that we did last year when these two instant classic games took place. But have the Chiefs found the right words (or plays) in the 10-month-long rinse cycle they’ve been in since?

To find that answer, or to even speculate on it as I’m about to do, you have to first look at the product that both teams have put on the field with the 2022 versions of themselves. For the Chiefs, they have redefined their “best selves” with a newly balanced offensive attack complimented by a young, fast defense. The Bengals have trudged through some mud in finding themselves post-Super Bowl loss, but find themselves now looking a lot like they did then. Basically what I’m saying is for both teams a lot has changed, but a lot remains the exact same.