Bengals, Chiefs fight for playoffs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs are accustomed to playing each other for a spot in the Super Bowl when the snow begins to fly.

On Sunday, they are merely playing to get into the playoffs.

The Bengals (8-7) have won three of their last four games to keep their AFC wild-card hopes alive, but they desperately need to beat Kansas City (9-6) to give themselves a good shot at making the postseason field.

And the Chiefs have lost three of their last four and still need a win, or some help from Las Vegas and Denver, to clinch their eighth straight AFC West title.

“It’s so unpredictable year to year what teams are going to rise up,” said Bengals coach Zac Taylor, who has managed to keep his team in the hunt for a third straight playoff appearance despite losing Joe Burrow just 10 games into the season.

“You look around the AFC, across the board and the teams still in it,” Taylor continued, “it’s just going to come down to who can figure out how to win and keep the momentum going a little bit.”

The Bengals’ momentum was stanched last week in Pittsburgh, where they allowed the Steelers to race to a 24-0 halftime lead in a 34-11 defeat. Jake Browning, who has played well in Burrow’s place, threw three interceptions in the game.

“Obviously it’s been a different quarterback,” Browning said, “but we’ve gone on runs before, and had to play before where it’s like, ‘Hey, let’s focus on one game at a time.’ So we just have to focus on playing the Chiefs and whatever happens, happens.”

While the Bengals believe momentum is still on their side, they Chiefs are as devoid of it since Andy Reid took over as coach.

Unless it’s momentum in the wrong direction.

Perhaps the worst performance in Reid’s decade in Kansas City was their latest, when they did not allow an offensive TD — or a completion after the first quarter, for that matter — yet still lost to the Raiders on Christmas. Las Vegas returned a fumble for a touchdown and got a pick-6 thrown by Patrick Mahomes on consecutive plays in the 20-14 win.

Now, the defending Super Bowl champions no longer have a shot at the No. 1 seed in the AFC with two games to go.

“We’re still in first place in the AFC West. We have one more game to win the division,” Mahomes said. “We understand it’s not going to be easy. But if we continue to work, we win this game and go to the playoffs, we know we can do what we set out to do at the beginning of this season, and that’s get to the Super Bowl.”

Banged-up Bengals

The Bengals could be without Ja’Marr Chase, their Pro Bowl wide receiver, who missed practice earlier in the week to rehab his ailing shoulder. Chase has shredded the Chiefs over the years, including a game in January 2022 in which he caught 11 passes for a franchise-record 266 yards and three touchdowns.

Cincinnati was also waiting to see how top cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt fared in practice this week. He was cleared to return from an ankle injury that landed him on injured reserve, opening a 21-day window to active him or end his season.

Chiefs concerns

Injuries are also a concern in Kansas City, where five starters were missing from practice early in the week: CBs L’Jarius Sneed (calf) and Jaylen Watson (illness), RB Isiah Pacheco (concussion), LT Donovan Smith (neck) and WR Kadarius Toney.

The Chiefs could get WR Mecole Hardman back this week. He has been practicing, but has not been activated off IR.

Baby on board

Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., who spent two Pro Bowl seasons in Kansas City, celebrated the birth of his son, Sonny, moments after stepping off the field in Pittsburgh last week. Brown watched the birth over FaceTime from the locker room.

“For me, football is kind of everything right now. You don’t really get this opportunity back. You don’t get the opportunity to see a birth, either,” he said. “For me, it was important to be there with the guys in Pittsburgh and to be out there with them.”

Banking on big plays

The Chiefs’ offense has been known for its big plays over the years, but Mahomes is averaging just 6.6 yards through the air per attempt this season, the sixth-worst mark in the AFC.

And thanks in part to the fact Kansas City’s wide receivers have more dropped passes than any other team, his average completed air yards is better only than Bears backup Tyson Bagent.

But the Bengals could offer a chance for Mahomes, who already has thrown a career-worst 14 interceptions, to open it up. They allowed the Steelers’ George Pickens to have TD catches of 66 and 86 yards last week.

Cameras are watching

Several times this season TV cameras have caught Chiefs players in moments of frustration. It was Mahomes charging after an official after an offside penalty on Kadarius Toney in a loss to Buffalo, and it was Travis Kelce last week, when their star tight end chucked his helmet at the bench and Reid refused to give it back to him.

“When you’ve won a lot of games,” Reid said, “your tolerance level for not doing as well as you should goes down. Things happen. That’s the great part about it: This is emotional. The game of football is an emotional game.”

CINCINNATI (8-7) at KANSAS CITY (9-6)

Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, CBS

OPENING LINE: Chiefs by 7, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

AGAINST THE SPREAD: Bengals 6-7-2; Chiefs 7-7-1.

SERIES RECORD: Bengals lead 18-15.

LAST MEETING: Chiefs beat Bengals 23-20 on Jan. 29, 2023, in the AFC championship game in Kansas City.

LAST WEEK: Bengals lost to Steelers 34-11; Chiefs lost to Raiders 20-14.

BENGALS OFFENSE: OVERALL (21), RUSH (32), PASS (11), SCORING (20).

BENGALS DEFENSE: OVERALL (31), RUSH (26), PASS (28), SCORING (31).

CHIEFS OFFENSE: OVERALL (9), RUSH (20), PASS (4), SCORING (T11).

CHIEFS DEFENSE: OVERALL (2), RUSH (18), PASS (3), SCORING (2).

TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Bengals plus-8; Chiefs minus-10.

BENGALS PLAYER TO WATCH: RB Joe Mixon managed just 43 yards on 11 carries and caught two passes for 7 yards in last week’s loss to Pittsburgh. He will try to bounce back against a Kansas City defense that did not allow a pass completion after the first quarter last week but did allow Raiders backup Zamir White to run for 145 yards.

CHIEFS PLAYER TO WATCH: Travis Kelce needs 32 yards receiving to reach the 1,000-yard mark for the eighth consecutive season, extending his franchise record and the NFL record for tight ends. Eight straight also would tie three other players for the fourth-longest streak in NFL history for players at any position.

KEY MATCHUP: Chiefs RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire against the Cincinnati defense. Kansas City’s wide receivers have struggled, and the position is also thin now with Skyy Moore on injured reserve. And with RB Isiah Pacheco in the concussion protocol and RB Jerick McKinnon also on IR, it could be up to Edwards-Helaire to provide offense both on the ground and through the air for Kansas City.

KEY INJURIES: Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase missed practice this week with a shoulder injury. Chiefs CBs L’Jarius Sneed (calf) and Jaylen Watson (illness), RB Isiah Pacheco (concussion), WR Kadarius Toney (hip) and LT Donovan Smith (neck) also missed practice.

SERIES NOTES: The Bengals and Chiefs have met in the past two AFC championship games with Cincinnati winning 27-24 in overtime in the 2021 season and Kansas City winning 23-20 last season. The Bengals had won three straight in the series before the Chiefs won their most recent game to advance to the Super Bowl. The Bengals have won seven of the past nine games in the series overall going back to the 2007 season.

STATS AND STUFF: The Chiefs can clinch the AFC West for the eighth consecutive year with a win or if the Raiders and Broncos lose or tie. … The Bengals fell out of a wild-card spot with last week’s loss to Pittsburgh. They could move back into one with a win and some help this weekend. … Bengals RB Joe Mixon needs 212 yards rushing to pass James Brooks (6,447) for second in franchise history. … Mixon has 48 TD runs, tied with Rudi Johnson for second in Bengals history. Pete Johnson holds the record with 64. … Bengals WR Tyler Boyd needs 21 catches to pass Carl Pickens (530) for third in franchise history. … Chase has 93 catches, four shy of A.J. Green and T.J. Houshmandzadeh for the fifth-best season in Bengals history. … Chase has 1,156 yards, putting him 299 shy of his own Bengals record set in 2021. … Chase had 266 yards receiving against Kansas City on Jan. 2, 2022. … Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson has 16 sacks this season, the second most in team history. … The Chiefs have lost three of their past four, four of their past six and five of their past eight. They began the season 6-1. … Kansas City became the first team since 2000 to lose without allowing a completion after the first quarter last week against Las Vegas. … The Chiefs allowed defensive touchdowns 7 seconds apart against the Raiders on a pick-6 and fumble return. … Kansas City has scored in 179 consecutive games going back to Week 16 of the 2012 season, tying the longest streak in franchise history. … With a win, Chiefs coach Andy Reid can pass George Seifert (1989-96) for the second-most consecutive 10-win seasons with his ninth in a row. … Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes needs 329 yards passing to pass Len Dawson (28,507) for the most in franchise history. … Mahomes needs 62 yards passing to reach 4,000 for the sixth straight season as a starter. That would tie Tom Brady and Peyton Manning for the fifth-most consecutive 4,000-yard seasons in NFL history. … Kelce needs one TD catch to pass Jason Witten (74) for fifth most by a tight end in NFL history. Kelce needs three to pass Tony Gonzalez (76) for the most in Chiefs history. … Kelce needs 13 catches to pass Gonzalez (916) for the most in Chiefs history.

FANTASY TIP: This could be a bounce-back spot for Kelce, who was so frustrated last week against Las Vegas that he spiked his helmet on the sideline, and then had Reid refuse to give it back to him. Kelce had just five catches for 44 yards with a drop in the loss, and he has not caught a TD pass in the past five games. But he will be facing a Bengals pass defense this week that allowed Pittsburgh backup Mason Rudolph to throw for 290 yards and two scores last week.