Let's talk about the Bengals

[TLO]

A sneaky big game in the AFC, and probably our toughest game left before playoff time.

Talk about it here

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by RunKC

They’re gonna give us everything they’ve got. They’re tied for the division with the Ravens and a loss could put them out of the playoff picture.

They need this one badly

They need it more than the Chiefs do.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by raybec 4

"Here's some actual analysis" ......as if you're ****ing opinion is analysis and everyone else's is just rah rah bullshit. My God you are an arrogant prick.

Buddy, if your "analysis" of the game is "the Chiefs are going to cave their skulls in!," then, no, that's just rah rah stuff. No need to get upset over calling a spade a spade.

Trying to weigh strengths and advantages of the upcoming game is literally analysis, whether you think it has worth or not.

[Sassy Squatch]

If they want to play light on the LOS we can introduce them to Pikachu.

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by O.city

Need to stop turning the football over on dumb shit like muffed punts and red zone turnovers.

I hope the Skyy Moore experiment is over.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

direckshun jizzing all over a mid team that barely beat the steelers and saints and LOST to cooper rush

biggest paper tiger of 2022

I welcome the incoming meltdown after the game, which will almost certainly be close, when a bunch of grown men post 25 exclamation points on the internet saying things like "how could the Chiefs let this happen!!!!!!!!!"

The Bengals are really good, which is why this game is going to probably be close. That's how it happened.

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by KChiefs1

I hope the Skyy Moore experiment is over.

The muffed punt this week was a blessing in disguise.

Zero percent chance he’s returning punts unless there’s an emergency.

[Mecca]

Gotta assume the vanilla game we got yesterday is because this game is one the team is focused on, the Chiefs haven't won a game in Cincy since 84, lets change that.

[Imon Yourside]

I would expect Reid and Mahomes to have had this game circled after last year.

[Imon Yourside]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

The muffed punt this week was a blessing in disguise.

Zero percent chance he’s returning punts unless there’s an emergency.

We keep saying that......4th times a charm maybe?

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Zac Taylor is also a terrible head coach.

Originally Posted by htismaqe

He's putting his offense in a position to fail more often than not. A lot of the pressure problems are because he refuses to tailor the offense.

I never understand his coaching style. I really don't.

That Bengals team last year was not remotely strategic, on either side of the ball. It was almost like they just spun a wheel and that ended up being their gameplan for the day, but it didn't matter because Burrow and the skill position players are so talented.

That was clearly the case, like the coaches were just pushing random buttons against us, during the two games we played them in last year for the first half. Then in the second halves of both games, they randomly stumble into this defense that Mahomes just completely regressed against.

Are they stupid/lucky, or are they weird/smart. I can't quite place it.

[LiveSteam]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I welcome the incoming meltdown after the game, which will almost certainly be close, when a bunch of grown men post 25 exclamation points on the internet saying things like "how could the Chiefs let this happen!!!!!!!!!"

The Bengals are really good, which is why this game is going to probably be close. That's how it happened.

You and you alone,,, are why the Football Gods will be on thier side

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by Imon Yourside

We keep saying that......4th times a charm maybe?

Yea after that Hardman and Toney both got hurt so it turned to well just go back to him. At this point I'll take a dude that fair catches every punt as long as he catches it.

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by staylor26

Is there anybody more full of themselves on CP?

[Imon Yourside]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I never understand his coaching style. I really don't.

That Bengals team last year was not remotely strategic, on either side of the ball. It was almost like they just spun a wheel and that ended up being their gameplan for the day, but it didn't matter because Burrow and the skill position players are so talented.

That was clearly the case, like the coaches were just pushing random buttons against us, during the two games we played them in last year for the first half. Then in the second halves of both games, they randomly stumble into this defense that Mahomes just completely regressed against.

Are they stupid/lucky, or are they weird/smart. I can't quite place it.

It's easy to throw the ball up and let the defender push off at the last second for some amazing catches.

[carcosa]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

This thread is pretty much a rah-rah thread, but here's some actual analysis.

This Bengals team is damn good. Way better than their record.

Burrow is fantastic, of course, and they have a top 3 set of offensive weapons in the NFL. We should assume Jamar Chase magically is healthy enough to play this week, and this is one of those games Spags loses sleep over. To accommodate the rookies in the secondary, his back seven is incredibly basic zone, and really good QBs can carve it up if they don't face a ton of pressure. If we can't get a ton of pressure on Burrow, it's going to be very hard to stop him, even without Chase. Their weapons really are that good. (For the record, the Bengals will get one additional year of not-breaking-the-bank-Burrow, but two years from now this team is going to have to pay Burrow and Chase, and it's going to gut their team.)

After the bye, Spags has done everything in his power to generate the best possible passrush, and it shows. The Chiefs live in teams' backfields right now -- though I do wonder how well that's going to work against Cincy. The Titans have a really great passrush and only planted his ass in the dirt once. Do not believe the advance stats, guys: the Bengals offensive line is very good in pass protection now. They're healthy and they're not allowing a ton of pressure.

Of course, the Chiefs have a cheat code in Chris Jones, but Burrow is nearly Mahomes-esque in pocket navigation. They need multiple passrushers to have a game, and Spags needs to be surgical with his blitz calls: none of these stupid fire blitz calls by the handful that killed the D against Josh Allen.

The Bengals have a run game that is workable, but won't kill them necessarily. Mixon is very good but not healthy. Perine is basically late-career Spencer Ware: good player, but he's not the guy who beats you.

The Bengals defense is underrated, I think. They just shut down Derrick Henry, which is somewhat deceptive. They stacked the box against the Titans, which you can't do against Mahomes. But their two interior DTs are healthy now and they're massive and extremely hard to move.

The Bengals have a good secondary, but it doesn't matter right now with Mahomes and this offense... This is as good an offense as the Chiefs have ever had, and the multitude of weapons the Chiefs boast with what's probably going to be an A-game from Andy Reid with tons of man beaters... I just don't think there's much the secondary will be able to do other than double Kelce and dare Mahomes to beat them with anybody else. Mahomes is extremely sharp this year, and he will beat them with everybody else.

The only hope for the Bengals is to get to Mahomes, and Hendrickson/Hubbard is going to give our tackles a lot of problems. I'm guessing the Chiefs give Wylie as much help as they can manage in this game, and just pray Brown can hold off Hendrickson, which he couldn't in the playoffs. So this will be how the Bengals contains Mahomes, if at all.

The Bengals also have that deadly "rush three with a spy" alignment that they stifled Mahomes with twice last season, including the AFCCG where Mahomes was so locked down, he seemingly forgot how to play football. I suspect the better talent this team has across the board will be the solution to that problem, but it's not one we should dare to forget.

The Bengals are a balanced team, with a metric ton of offensive talent, a good secondary, and tough in the trenches.

The Chiefs are capable of handling all this, but they have to get to Burrow, and they have to keep Mahomes clean.

I do agree with everyone that Mahomes and Reid want to absolutely murder the Bengals, and I bet both of them will be at the top of their game. But there's a reason the Bengals swept us last year in the exact same way: they are very talented and their coaching staff had a great feel for our tendencies.

I have this game as a true tossup, maybe even a very slight lean to the Bengals.

KC Chiefs will win