Bengals vs. Chiefs: NFL AFC Championship Round Picks & Predictions
Immediately following the crowning of an NFC Champion in Philly, the NFL world’s attention will turn to Kansas City as the 3-seed Bengals take on the top-seeded Chiefs. The Bengals come into this matchup as confident as they’ve been all season, not just beating the 2-seed Bills on Sunday but making it look easy in the process.
Will the Chiefs be ready to answer the punches surely delivered by his red-hot Bengals’ offense led by Mr. Cool himself, Joey Burrow? Let’s take a closer look at how things may shake out.
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
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NFL AFC Championship Round Best Bets: Bengals vs. Chiefs (Sunday)
Details
- Opening Line: Chiefs -1.5 | O/U 48
- Current Line: Chiefs -1 | O/U 47
- Last meeting: December 4, 2022 – Chiefs 24, Bengals 27
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Overview
In a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship game, the Bengals will once again come to KC, and this time hope to make things a bit easier on themselves. Last season, the Bengals came back from 17 points down to reach their first Super Bowl in 33 years.
History was repeated again this season in early December, as the Bengals once again narrowly won that matchup in Cinci in another back-and-forth affair. With the win, Burrow became the first QB to beat Mahomes, at any level, three consecutive times.
Already difficult, things got that much harder last week when Patrick Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain and labored through the final three-quarters of their win last week vs. the Jaguars. With Mahomes now hobbled for this one, the Chiefs will have to get creative, which likely means a heavy dose of running back Isiah Pacheco early and often.
On the other side of this QB battle, despite having three starting offensive linemen out, Burrow threw for two touchdowns, and no picks last week, picking up an additional 31 yards on the ground. The Bengals should also have the advantage in the WR department, as Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase have already shown dominance over this Chiefs’ secondary the past two seasons.
Bottom Line
While they haven’t exactly faced the cream of the crop offensively, this Bengals’ defense has been underrated in their dominance down the stretch of this season. Since the start of December, since facing the Chiefs on December 4th, the Bengals have given up 20 points on just one occasion, owning the trenches in every game since.
With an established offense, I like for a complete performance from the Bengals to put them right back in the Super Bowl.
Pick: Bengals +1 (-110)
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