Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals have been the only team to truly present the Kansas City Chiefs with any real challenges over the last several seasons.
Burrow is 3-1 against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs overall, and back in January 2022, the Bengals went into Arrowhead Stadium and upset Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game.
Does that mean Cincinnati remains the Chiefs’ No. 1 threat in the AFC?
Burrow was asked about Kansas City this week, and he seems ready to knock the team off yet again.
“They’re the gold standard right now,” Burrow said, via the Bengals’ official YouTube account. “Everybody’s chasing them — obviously, they’re back-to-back world champs. Somebody’s got to knock them off. I’m hoping it’s us.”
Not only have the Chiefs won back-to-back Super Bowl titles, but they have won three championships in the last five years and have represented the AFC in the Super Bowl four times in that span.
The only time they didn’t? February 2022, when Burrow and the Bengals fell to the Los Angeles Rams.
Of course, the following year, Mahomes got the better of Burrow, with Kansas City defeating Cincinnati in the AFC Championship Game for a bit of revenge. It wasn’t easy, though, as the Chiefs narrowly escaped with a 23-20 victory.
Kansas City didn’t have to deal with Burrow this past year, as Burrow was knocked out with a wrist injury after 10 games. Cincy missed the playoffs as a result, and this time around, the Chiefs went on to top the Baltimore Ravens in the conference title game before beating the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.
But Burrow is on the mend after undergoing wrist surgery and should be ready for Week 1. He still has Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins at his disposal, and it’s important to note that the Bengals still managed to go 9-8 even with Burrow missing seven games in 2023.
Obviously, there is still plenty of talent on Cincinnati’s roster, and the Bengals will absolutely represent a major threat in the AFC so long as Burrow stays healthy.
The problem for Cincy is that it plays in arguably the toughest division in football, as the AFC North also houses the Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers, all of whom made the playoffs last winter.
We’ll see if Joe Burrow and the Bengals can overcome some rugged divisional matchups to make it back to the postseason and clash with the Chiefs yet again next January.
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