Bengals Top Chiefs in Sunday’s Game of the Week
Ryan Meyer - Cincinnati Bengals
A new rivalry has been born between the Bengals and the Chiefs, and so far, Cincinnati is winning 3-0.
The Bengals started the game strong with an 11-play touchdown drive. Quarterback Joe Burrow led the charge, rushing for three yards early in the drive, and then running into the endzone for a four-yard rushing touchdown. He showed early on that he came to compete hard and was going to put everything on the line to get the win.
The Chiefs offense faced a tough challenge against the Bengals defense, who has nearly come back to full strength. The Chiefs marched down the field rather quickly, but the pass defense had two big stops when the Chiefs were at the eight-yard line to keep them from tying the game.
Ryan Meyer - Cincinnati Bengals
With a 7-3 lead, the Bengals responded right away, marching right back down the field for another touchdown. On the first play of the drive, Burrow took the ball again and rushed for eight yards. The offense was aided by penalties on the Chiefs defense, including a pass interference penalty on a play where Burrow was intercepted. In the end, Burrow hit Tee Higgins through traffic for a 12-yard touchdown pass.
The following drives for both teams were 3-and-outs before the Chiefs came out and scored their first touchdown of the night. Mahomes’ biggest pass of the drive came on the first play, with a 15-yard pass to Noah Gray. The offense completed short runs and passes down into the redzone, with no spectacular plays showing they were the better team. Mahomes hit Jerick McKinnon for a short two-yard touchdown to bring the game to 14-10 with just over two minutes left in play.
Neither team scored for the rest of the half, leaving the score 14-10. Before this game, the Bengals were 4-2 when leading at halftime.
The Chiefs came out raging after halftime, and scored a touchdown in under three minutes to get their first lead of the night. Mahomes had a massive throw to Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a 42-yard pickup. Right after that, he hit Travis Kelce for a gain of 18 yards, before the run game took over and picked up the touchdown.
Wide receiver Tyler Boyd had great pickups on the next Bengals drive to help them get down the field before the run game took over. He had two consecutive catches for a total of 37 yards. The offense was unable to convert on a third and three, so they settled for a 36 yard field goal from Evan McPherson.
Ryan Meyer - Cincinnati Bengals
Mahomes was the star of the next Chiefs drive, throwing for 44 yards and then laying himself out to score a rushing touchdown.
The Bengals responded with another field goal, leaving them down by four with almost all of the fourth quarter left to play.
On the second play of the Chiefs next drive, Travis Kelce fumbled the ball, which ended up being recovered by Germaine Pratt. This was a massive turnover for the defense, who was consistently working to set their offense up for success.
The offense was able to capitalize off of this turnover, with Burrow’s arm being the main source of yards.
Ryan Meyer - Cincinnati Bengals
On the Chiefs’ last drive of the game, the offense struggled to make big gains, but eventually made it to the Cincinnati 37 yard line before they were stopped. They had to settle for a game-tying field goal with three minutes to play. Unfortunately for them, Harrison Butker missed the 55-yard kick, keeping them down by three points.
The Bengals were able to run out the clock, and the game was sealed after Burrow hit Higgins for a 14 yard gain on third-and-14.
For the third time in 2022, the Bengals have beaten the Chiefs by three points. Every time they meet, the Bengals are listed as underdogs in Vegas, but somehow, they get the job done every time.
Burrow finished the day 25-of-31 for 286 yards and three total touchdowns. In his first game back from injury, Ja’Marr Chase led the team in receiving with seven receptions for 97 yards.
It’s safe to say a rivalry has been created between the Bengals and the Chiefs, and it will be exciting to watch Burrow and Mahomes battle it out for the next decade.
