KC CHIEFS vs. CINCY BENGALS: AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME! Who wins? Your predictions?
 

Advance to Superbowl or go home.

Chiefs only 1 point favs. Over/under is 47.5. Normally the home field is 3 point advantage.

At Kanas City's Arrowhead. First time in NFL history that a conference championship game was held 5 times in a row in the home stadium.

5:30 CST Sunday game.

Who wins?

Your predictions?

Chiefs MVP of the game?

In, chiefs win close game kelce mvp

Let's send the Bengals back to their terrible Skyline chili and their worst-boiled ribs from Montgomery Inn.

Chiefs by 10

Hoping I don't get banned from this thread for stating my mind, but Cincy looks awfully strong right now. We can't have our ST play the way they did this past weekend and expect to win.

Geeze folks, Clay says really outlandish crap and you do nothing about his prurient behaviors, but I get banned for my opinion?

Chiefs close.

Too early to predict. Need to know Patrick’s status and get an update on how he’s doing.

I never vote in these polls, but I'll say this - if Pat somehow miraculously recovers enough to be his normal, mobile self, I like our chances. If not, I fear we're ****ed.

He’s going to be pretty limited. When he doesn’t practice all week that’ll tell us.

I love Whataburger ketchup!!!

the Kansas city chiefs are my favorite football club

Chiefs are up 69-0 at half then Henne pours it on and it ends 420-0

Knowing the future is for demon purposes....this is a known cesspool though

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFC_Championship_Game

https://i.postimg.cc/7hWj0rLh/Screen...123-020939.png

Chiefs have only lost 3 games this year when I pick them to win in a blowout. This week is no different.

I honestly have no idea. It really depends on how healthy Mahomes ankle is.

I wanna rep your face all nite

Chiefs 69
Bengals 0

Wish I could predict a win, but an ailing and less mobile Mahomes combined with our poor tackle play seems like we’re really behind the 8-ball. Can’t see how he can be more than 80% a week into a HAS, and we’ve lost 3 straight to them with him healthy.

Maybe there’s a path centered around Pacheco and reinventing the offense to work around this, but I just dont see it.

Bengals are probably the best team in the NFL, and it’s unfortunate we don’t get to see these teams go at each other full strength.

BungHoles 26
Chiefs 20

Chiefs 48, Bengals 20

Don't give a ****

I agree. If our O line can block their D line effectively the entire game it’ll likely mean we’re in it. But I can’t see it happening and Mahomes won’t be able to move around very well. Bengals defense is going to give us fits. And our D will not be likely able to stop Burrow’s quick release to his 3 #1 WRs. Bengals might win it all this year.

His ability to extend plays and give people time to get open, or to run for an important first down, is a big part of the whole Mahomes thing. If he isn’t mobile enough to do that, things get really difficult.

I'll be taking two blood pressure pills that morning, good grief...

What about after the first quarter though?

This poll is a complete fail. There should only be one option: Chiefs win.

**** this! Chiefs win and I hope Mahomes beats them on one ****ing foot!
:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:

I think it’s a nut tugger, that we pull off at the very end. 4 point win. Back to the MOTHER****INGSUPERBOWLLLLLL

i think it comes down if we can get pressure on Burrow. we haven’t in the past so who knows

38 - 27 Chiefs win.

not surprised the biggest pussy on this board predicts the chiefs losing

thank you, coward

a win is now assured

your name shall be recorded in the book of traitors

Amen!

Love your attitude!

For the Super Bowl, I should offer only three choices: Chiefs by a little, alot, or a blowout. :)

Kansas City Chiefs are going to WIN and advance to the SB! Mark my words! We ARE going to WIN! No worries, not scared! :thumb:

I guess that's why you're long suffering. jk ;)

I vote for blowout everytime, this time I'm voting close game so it will actually be a blowout.

Don't like the pessimism on a CHIEFS forum!! wtf? I would understand pre-Mahomes era, but now? Dude only makes miracles on the football field every year. F the doubters.
Broken Mahomes > every other QB

Pessimism? Over three quarters are predicting a win against a team that has beaten us three in a row.

Queried the Magic 8-Ball again:

Chiefs 27
Bengals 24

Butker kicks a FG with :03 in the game to win.
Mahomes steals Burrow's cigar and light up right in his face.

Bengals defense looked awesome today but Burrow and the offense did not do that much to impress...they played fine...solid. #1 is a lot to deal with.

Going to be a massive challenge for us.

Not picking against the Chiefs, but everyone better have their heads on straight and be ready to give it their all from start to finish.

Chiefs 34
Bungholes 30

Did they also play 3 backups on the OL too?

Acknowledging that another team is good and could win the game does not make you a traitor.

Goes against the way I process and predict anything but feel the Mahomes injury and his ability to come back creates an added sense of urgency for the team to execute a winning game plan.

No special teams gaffes and KC wins a close one.

Right.

It's called being a realist. Hard for some people on this board.

Chiefs flip the script and win 27-24 this time. I don't know how it happens, it just does.

It's all talk at this point, either you do it or you don't, and it really comes down to Spags being able to stop Burrow. If we lose again, then I don't see how Spags keeps his job. You've clearly hit a wall in Burrow and you can't get past it, and now you're sitting at home for the second straight year watching the Bengals go onto the Superbowl. If you don't want that to happen, then you have to step up. Enough talk about revenge game, and we've been waiting, just shut up and either get it done or sit at home like the other 30 teams after this weekend.

Chiefs 30 Bengals 27

Pro golfers don't say to themselves: Don't miss this putt.

I expect a slugfest & wouldn't have it any other way.

We may have an uphill fight here, given the circumstances. This is a position the Chiefs haven't been in for a long time, not since the Tampa Super Bowl. Some people are very emotional about it, which is to some degree understandable but also no reason to take leave of your senses.

Well if legalized sports betting in ks has taught me anything, it's that I can't predict the outcome of games ..

But my thoughts are this: with the Mahomes injury and recent history I'm very, very surprised we're favored, even slightly. We simply have not been able to beat them recently, regardless of the reasons why. They're coming into the game with tremendous momentum and we are literally limping in. And why Arrowhead is a great home field advantage, this iteration of the Chiefs is a better road team, particularly on offense. I think the Bills in Atlanta would have been a much more favorable game. I am having a hard time rationalizing how we win. It's going to require an all time performance from mahomes, and the rest of the team is going to have to play mistake free ball. We can't give the Bengals any help. Play has to be clean, we can't have penalties on either side of the ball. And we have to start hot, right from the opening whistle. If we come out flat, we get run out of the building. We have the team to win. Problem is, we can never seem to put everything together. It has to happen Sunday. We won't be able to win despite ourselves the way we did so often during the year.

And we will likely have to overcome the kind of blatantly disadvantageous officiating that we saw the last time we were in the Superbowl and in last year's afc Championship. The kind of calls that cost us a couple of wins this year.i expect it to continue.

It's a shit ton to overcome...

All that said, we ain't conceding . There's always a chance. And we're not in this game as a fluke.

As

I agree with you, Cincy absolutely is playing great football.

They have great weapons on offense with probably the best trio of WRs in the NFL, a stellar QB, and a very good RB that can hammer out tough yards. Right now, their O-Line is weak but Buffalo's pass rushers couldn't take advantage of it.

Their defense is solid at all 3 levels. Pratt and Wilson are both very good in coverage and solid overall linebackers. Their entire defensive line is solid and Hendrickson can absolutely be a game-wrecker. Bell and Bates have an argument as the best safety tandem in the NFL. Their weakness really is their CBs and they really aren't terrible but they are flawed.

Overall, I think Spags has to change his game plan we've seen a good majority of the season. He needs to roll a safety over the top of Chase consistently. He needs to sit linebackers down in the middle zone to take away those quick dumps (a huge issue for KC this year). He should key safety to the flats where Burrow likes to hit Boyd and Higgins when things break down. The defensive front 4 HAS TO get to Burrow. They simply can't go into this game thinking they can blitz Burrow and have positive outcomes. He's too good, too quick, and they have the weapons to get open quick enough to make it happen. I don't think KC has played terrible defense against them, but those things pop to me from the past and maybe I'm wrong and maybe I'm not. Feel free to argue it.

Offensively, I'm most worried about how well Mahomes will be able to move. That ankle is likely to still be swollen and it's going to be really painful. I'm sure a few painkillers and a lot of tape will be on the docket but the pain is still going to break through and it's going to affect his mobility.

That means this offensive line HAS TO play its absolute best game. I don't know what flavor of Wheaties OBj needs to eat before the game, but he best eat them. Same goes for Wylie, add a protein shake or two.

The IOL needs to be nails. I have faith in them, but they will be key. Mahomes probably won't be able to take those deeper drops and drift, which should help the tackles but then you can't allow penetration up the middle.

The receivers have to win matchups on the outside. Teams have been able to take advantage of that with some deep scores. Calls out to Watson and MVS. Do your jobs this week and catch the damn ball. That will force the safeties to help and take pressure off the middle zone and flats. We have scored on them, but we haven't been good enough.

We also need to run the football. I normally don't pound the table to run, but Cincy is a physical football team and they don't respond so well to a team being physical in return. If Tyler Huntley didn't make a bonehead play in the wild-card round, we aren't talking about the Bengals. The Chiefs need to hit Cincy in the mouth with Pacheco. If there is one thing this O-Line can do, it's get physical in the run game. We're going to need to do it.

Overall, I'm worried about this game. It's going to be close throughout I'd have to think. With Mahomes hobbled and maybe not making those runs for first downs, it could be tough.

I'm going to pick the Chiefs because I'm a homer and this team wants nothing more than to beat Cincinnati. They're going to need an A-game throughout though. The line actually favors Cincy with the Chiefs only being -1 in Vegas. Are we going to see another FG to win it?

Chiefs 27 Bengals 24

We win most games against good teams because of Mahomes' mobility -- running for key first downs, dancing around back there to buy time, etc. Mahomes without his mobility -- I don't think our WRs are good enough to get consistent separation. Mahomes needs to be close to 100% for us to win.

We're about to find out about the rest of this team if Mahomes can't drag them to a victory.

We always do an 'opponent specific' tailgate so we don't fall in a rut out there. For example, last week was a low country shrimp/crab boil (and it was damn good).

This week we gave up. Cincinnati has nothing worth eating and I'll be damned if I'll soil any of my gear by putting that cinnamon and horse meat flavored gruel in it.

We're probably just going to make burgers or something because nobody in the country has worse culinary options than the goddamn Bengals.

Has nothing to do with anything other than calling it as I see it. The Bengals look pretty damn good right and based on the circumstances we’re dealing with I’m not confident. It is what it is. How could any objective fan feel good about this game? We lost the last 3 games to them with a healthy Mahomes and now he’s basically got one good leg and they’re firing on all cylinders.

Like I said in my original post, if somehow we manage to win in the trenches in this one it will mean we’re in it. But I just don’t trust OBJ and Wiley enough to believe it’ll happen.

What really concerns me about Mahomes ankle is the coverages we'll see in response.

If he isn't a threat to move the pocket and/or run, we're going to see a LOT of man coverage. And this team just doesn't have a ton of guys who excel against Man. Moreover, they can run man without having to commit a spy to Mahomes as a potential running threat.

So you're gonna see not just man coverages, but man with an extra rusher with some fair frequency. And when that guys not rushing, you could see 2-high robber coverages where he looks to create turnovers.

Honestly, the guy I think we truly need back this week, is Mecole Hardman. You put Hardman out there with Toney and both of them can do enough lateral motion and drag routes to mess with some of those man coverages and open up plenty of field.

They can win quickly and find space and when they find space, they're a threat to house one.

We need Hardman back in a big way, IMO.

I'm as realistic as they come and I know it's going to be a hard-fought game.

But for some reason, I just have this gut feeling that the Chiefs win. It's a great storyline with Mahomes being hobbled.

I'm expecting the same thing as the 2nd half in the AFC Championship game last year. 7 or 8 in coverage while rushing 3-4. We'll see if the offensive line can hold up.

It would be the story of year in the NFL imo. We’d all love to see it. Positive thing is that I think the team as a whole understands they’ve all got to be their best with Patrick not 100%. We’ll see how it shakes out.

Chiefs OL and Blake Bell should bring some late in the play nastiness like there was in the Titans game.

Nothing that draws penalties, but DJ Reader, Germaine Pratt and Mike Hilton should get a taste.

20% of CP thinks we'll lose!?

We'll pick that apart, IMO.

We've seen it all season. We've rebuilt our entire offense to deal with it and Mahomes has been immersed in it.

I think we'll see aggressive man coverage and some varied pressure packages designed to take advantage of our limitations at WR. Why would you run an offense designed specifically to neutralize Tyreek Hill if Tyreek Hill is no longer on the roster?

This isn't the same team and if Cincy's DC wants to pretend like it is, that will only work to our benefit.

They've lost 3 straight to this squad and have heard about it all year.

**** all you guys. That place is gonna be a madhouse and they're gonna play with their tits on fire.

There's no god damn way we don't get an "over my dead body" game from Mahomes. Just no chance.

KC 27
Cincy 24

Get the running game going with Pacheco; keep the D honest. If they want to drop 8 and take away the pass, gash them on the ground. I suspect we will get away from the RPO, considering Mahomes' ankle, so the running game will need to be deliberate. Grind them up. Once they start creeping up to stop the run, hit 'em through the air. Leverage speedy WRs on sweeps and screens.

DO NOT TURN THE BALL OVER. Turnovers have been the deciding factor against the Bungles.

On D, pressure with front four will be critical. Our DL MUST win in the trenches. Don't bring the LBs on blitzes... keep them off the LOS to fill gaps, else Mixon will gash us.

WRAP UP on tackles! Skip that "drop shoulder and try to punish the ball carrier" bullshit. Wrap them up, hold them in place, allowing teammates to assist and finish the tackle. Stop all YAC (as much as possible).

Chase, Higgins, and Boyd are legitimately the most difficult WR trio we will face all season. Their QB is crazy accurate. Get in Burrow's face, obscure his vision, get hands up in the passing lanes. Put McDuffie on Chase, Sneed on Higgins, Watson on Boyd, and keep safeties deep. Force them to dump off to the TE or swing it out to RBs in the flat. Just do not leave those receivers uncovered to find gaps in a zone!!! Bump & run, physical coverage may slow those bastards down. We need just enough to allow our DL to get pressure. Just make Burrow hesitate... otherwise he will carve us up like he has everyone else.

Trying to help a brother out, I thought I'd scan the interwebs for a suggestion. Ya, most of what you find is shit.

Only thing I can offer is there is a large number of Greeks there, so my suggestion would be gyros.

If Pat was 100% I’d feel really confident.

Now I don’t know.

In a way it’s a little comforting and the pressure subsides a bit.

If it turns out he just doesn’t have it and we get beat then you just kind of say “oh well, tough luck” and move on to next year.

If we win though…this could go down as an all timer hall of fame performance from Pat.

Excited to see what happens.

I'm not counting on Hardman being back. He had complications with his groin yet this past week. Not a good sign of him returning.

I think KC needs to have a few packages sending MVS and Toney intermediate/deep and using the Kelce, JuJu, and McKinnon group underneath.

Watson just hasn't made enough plays so I think Toney on some of those routes to present something different will help. Toney is actually a pretty damned good intermediate sideline receiver.

Against the Jags, Kelce had 17 targets. Toney had 7. Everybody else had 2 max.

That’s the one major advantage we have this week. If Hardman is back then we can use a lot of things in the playbook.

Get your best YAC guys the ball. Kelce, McKinnon, Hardman, Toney. Everyone else should have similar 2 targets max.

Perine is hurt?

At home in the Wildcard game, Joe B had a QBR of <50 against the Ravens, while Ravens backup Huntley had a +70 QBR. The Ravens got pressure on Burrow and made him look human. That's the key. The Bills did absolutely NOTHING to make Burrow uncomfortable. They were surgically carved up and had no answer for anything they did. Leslie Frasier looked like he was a deer in the headlights.

Chris Jones MUST show up in this game. He simply must.

Otherwise it’s going to be a tall tall order to win this thing.

Yeah, I'd like to have him back but I think you're probably right. Things have just been so quiet on that front and that's never good news on an Andy team.

McKinnon may need to be that plan B guy in his stead. Just a bummer that we'll have to telegraph things a bit by having to play a pretty strict RB rotation based on play design.

He was really good against Jacksonville, all kibitzing to the contrary.

Jones shows up in every game.

Link to this?

It's more than just CJ (who has been absolutely phenomenal). This is a design issue for Spags. We have to be able to disguise and design the right D to get pressure on Joe B without completely leaving our DB's on islands. It's NOT an easy task for Spags and this D, but you got to be creative and get pressure on Burrow.

I wouldn't mind seeing both Pacheco and McKinnon in the backfield at the same time, or even McKinnon in the slot. He's been a really damned good receiver.

Nope, Pollard (Dallas). Confused the two for whatever reason.

This.

We need him to show up on the stat sheet. Just wreck shit inside.

It's time to unleash our 2nd round rookie WR

If it hasn’t happened yet….it isn’t happening this season.