Chiefs: Prepping for the Bengals

Laddie Morse

The first game of the season, against the Baltimore Ravens, in Arrowhead Stadium, is over and done with. Some called it the Rashee Rice Game (7 catches, 103 yards). Others have called it the Xavier Worthy Game (with 2 TDs):

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Now, we move on to the second game of the year, a battle with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Kansas City Chiefs came out on top in their first game of the year, while the Cincinnati Bengals lost their Home Opener to the New England Patriots, 16-to-10. It’s likely been a long time since Kingdom fans were pulling for a Patriots team, but that’s exactly what i was doing, since the Bengals pose more of a threat to the AFC Conference crown than the Pats do.

What may be even more astounding is, the Patriots defense held the Bengals offense to 10 measly points. While the K.C. defense held he Ravens offense to 20 points… the margin of victory in each game was nearly the same: 6 points to 7 points. In an article for NFL.com by Kevin Patra called. “Bengals QB Joe Burrow knows health is key in 2024” and he quoted Bengals QB Joe Burrow who said:

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“The biggest strides this year are going to be my

body and learning how to get through the season,

get through practices with my body, and feeling in

tip-top shape. And so that’s the main focus for the

offseason.”

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ESPN who followed the Bengals-Patriots game showed that Joe Burrow threw for 164 yards (Mahomes has only thrown for less then 164 yards once in his 6+ year career, while Burrow has done so now 5 times in a 4+ year career), which isn’t as horrible as it sounds, but the 5.7 yards per completion shows that most of his passes were of the shorter variety (Mahomes threw for an average of 10.4 YPR in the game v the Ravens). Now, why would that be important to note? Because Joe Burrow may be playing hurt –> and can’t actually go deep (0:23).

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Burrows longest throw was 28 yards to Ja’Marr Chase… but that’s the only throw he made over 13 yards in length. In the meantime, Mahomes completed 6 passes of 19 yards or longer.

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Tee Higgins

The limited output vs the Patriots for Joe Burrow may be attributed to him not having his WR#2: Tee Higgins. ESPN shows that Higgins is still injured and Questionable for the game vs K.C.. While Ja’Marr Chase only had 6 targets and 6 receptions for 62 yards, three other receivers had only half that amount but all together they had less than Chase’ production, 56 yards receiving.

In an article for cincyJungle.com, written by Jason Marcum called: “Tee Higgins appears unlikely to play vs. Chiefs” he posts a tweet by Adam Schefter who says:

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However, also from CincyJungle.com comes this quote from an article called: “On to the Chiefs” by Patrick Judis:

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“Head coach Zac Taylor noted they won’t know

a lot about any of their chances to play until Wednesday.”

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We should expect more targets for Ja’Marr Chase in this game, but with Trent McDuffie shadowing him, I doubt he’ll have more catches, if any more. “All Chief’d Up” offers this graphic of McDuffie’s first game stats:

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Although Ja’Marr Chase had food poisoning and was vomiting on Saturday, but he played on Sunday. The confusion around Chase playing last week had more to do with his contract situation. He has two years left on his contract, but wants it renegotiated now. Disgruntled players can cause problems in any locker room. We’ll have to wait and see if his situation has any impact on the outcome this week.

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Hollywood Brown

On the Chiefs side of he field, WR Hollywood Brown’s return to action is happening soon. HC Andy Reid said this week:

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Brown, suffered a dislocation of his sternoclavicular shoulder joint and while his injury been compared to Tyreek Hill’s injury, two injuries are never the same. So, it’s a wait and see situation. Like many, I would rather the Chiefs be cautious and hold him out until he is way past the re-injury point. HIs life may depend upon it.

The only other injury worth reporting on is the one to Charles Omenihu. Omenihu tore his ACL in the AFC Championship game last January. It’s strange that Omenihu is talking about Taylor Swift here when he’s on the road to recovery from his ACL operation”

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Andy Reid

On Monday, reviewing the Ravens game, in classic form, Andy Reid pointed out that there were some good things, as well as some things they needed to improve upon (11:20).

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Apparently, Andy Reid does play the game based on stats. That’s the reason they kicked off deep every time.

What do you think?

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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