How is this any different?
While the Bengals roster may seem essentially the same because of the offensive firepower they bring back—Burrow still has Ja’Marr Chase (who should be a go for Sunday), Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, and Joe Mixon at his disposal—there have been several new pieces sprinkled in to assist in getting over the Super Bowl hump. New to the offensive line this season is former Patriot and noted anti-Tennessee radical Ted Karras, La’el Collins, Alex Cappa, and Cordell Volson as well as tight end Hayden Hurst.
These new Bengals will certainly be put to the test by a revamped Chiefs front 7 that has generated a good deal of pressure in 2022 firmly behind the Monstar-level play of Defensive Player of the Year candidate Chris Jones. Nick Bolton has upped his level of play to an “All-Pro level” according to some who know football much better than most, and Willie Gay and the rest of the front 4 rotation have shown incredible speed, effort, and energy.
The Chiefs will bring more than just Tyreek Hill as a threat to the Bengals’ secondary this year in the wide receiving corps as well. JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling present new challenges for a Bengals secondary that will be without Chidobe Awuzie for the remainder of the season. To add to that, Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates figure to have their hands full with Mr. Fine Wine himself, Travis Kelce. Cincinnati will also get a taste of a man who runs like a svelte rhinoceros in Isiah Pacheco.
For the Bengals’ trio of wide receivers, many new challenges await. Sure L’Jarius Sneed is back and playing at an All-Pro level (I’m seeing a trend here with this Chiefs defense), but to help him along are (fortunately) players not named Rashad Fenton or Daniel Sorensen. Trent McDuffie stands a good chance to frustrate Chase with his physical style of play, and after some select words on Twitter on Wednesday night, Justin Reid should be ready to kick it into high gear as well to avoid bringing credence to the moniker of “canned tuna”.