Sunday, 30 Jan 2022. 07:31
Don’t miss the game between the Bengals and the Chiefs, today at 3 p.m., on RDS and RDS Direct.
PRE-MATCH
Authors of one of the great surprises of the last few years in the playoffs, the Cincinnati Bengals will participate this weekend in their first conference final since 1988.
On the other side of the spectrum, we find the Kansas City Chiefs, who for the fourth season in a row will be the hosts, with Patrick Mahomes in charge, of this final of the American association. In short, regulars of the meeting against a team for which there will certainly be a large part of the unexpected.
The good news for Cincinnati is that these two clubs faced off towards the end of the regular season. In this duel of the 17th week of activities, the Bengals won 34-31 in an absolutely thrilling end to the game. It was a meeting that had significance for both sides, as each had to win at this time to confirm a title, that of the North Division in the case of the Bengals, and that of the conference in the case of the Chiefs. There was therefore challenge and intensity in this confrontation won on a last-minute precision kick from Cincy.
The fact of having obtained this positive result against their rivals on Sunday is of course a source of hope. In a way, they will surely be less intimidated by their powerful rivals than if they had not managed to stand up to them on January 2nd.
Obviously, playing this match at Arrowhead Stadium rather than the familiar ambience of their home stadium makes a huge difference. Playing in Kansas City is a much different experience.
Things have changed, however, since the Chiefs let their opponents recover in the second half. On the one hand, let’s not forget that in the warm-up, KC had lost the services of tackle Orlando Brown, injured. After only six games, his replacement Lucas Niang had in turn fallen in battle. It had led to a bunch of improvised changes within the Chiefs’ offensive line. On the other hand, running backs Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Jerick McKinnon (who’s been playing great playoff football so far) weren’t in the roster.
It was 28-17 for the visitors at halftime despite that, and the gap could have been even bigger if Byron Pringle hadn’t seen a 99-yard return for the touchdown nullified by a penalty for having retained.
Those who watched this match will recall that in addition to being limited to three points in the 2nd half, KC had two penalties on 4th down and one deep in the territory, providing additional opportunities for the Bengals, including that of Evan McPherson’s victorious short kick. Somewhat wildly, Cincy had possession of the ball for six minutes, all for a total of 15 plays, without giving it back to the Chiefs.
It had also been a memorable performance from Joe Burrow and his favorite target, the gifted Ja’Marr Chase, who had totaled no less than 11 catches for 266 yards and three touchdowns. As dynamic and skilful after the catch as he is, what are the chances that Chase will give the Chiefs another performance like this? Let’s say they are rather minimal, especially on the road. Andy Reid’s troupe may respond better.
Can Burrow and his offense do as well as that of Josh Allen and the Bills last Sunday? Because Buffalo was almost intractable offensively all night, but it still ended in a heartbreaking defeat. That’s it, when you face Kansas City: you have to score points by the ton.
When the Chiefs suffered the loss in 2021, their rivals averaged 33 points on the board. In the playoffs so far, the Bengals have had 26 and 19 points in their face-off triumphs over Las Vegas and Tennessee.
One of the good news is the sensational performance of McPherson, who still hasn’t missed in eight kick attempts, some of which are very long or under great pressure. The bad thing is that you don’t beat the Chiefs with three-pointers!
Let’s forget their offensive slump (according to their standards) known in the fall. That offense has started to destroy everything in sight again, and the 84 points scored and 515 yards averaged after two playoff games are testament to that. It’s still against Pittsburgh and Buffalo; they are far from bad defensive units.
The Bengals will have to compete blow for blow with an offense that is an ever-present threat to put seven points on the board, streak after streak. I remind you that against the Titans, Burrow had wiped nine quarterback sacks and been hit a total of 13 times. We could have called it the human piñata so much it is shuffled from one side to the other. But the most remarkable thing about the story is that he was unfazed by such a terrifying blitz. He continued to do his business, taking his time in the pocket, identifying his targets before multiplying the long aerial gains, especially on the last sequence.
In short, we can really say that the young quarter lives up to his nickname “Joe Cool”. He exudes confidence, even a little arrogance, when you see him not flinching in front of the watch hunters. His courage was tested, and he passed the challenge with flying colors.
However, there is one thing that bothers me about this. Yes, it’s true that the Bengals offensive line is far from solid. But I found Burrow had the ball in his hands way too long last week. There is a limit to being confident in your abilities and looking for the big play. Sometimes an incomplete pass is the best play possible given the context. Burrow was often stubborn, and that resulted in valuable ground losses on the nine sacks he had for 68 total yards.
I understand that he wants to put on his Superman cape, but sometimes he had better leave it aside. It’s all in the dosage! If you’re up against a team like the Chiefs that score a lot of points, chances are it’ll catch up with you by forcing clearances unnecessarily.
If I have any advice for the Chiefs defense, it would be to be more alert on the tackles than the Titans have been. The latter missed too many tackles having extended the pieces of ground won by the Bengals. Cincy has hyper dynamic players who are capable of gaining yards after contact if given the chance.
Last week, KC limited Bills No. 1 receiver Stefon Doggs to three catches for yards. The problem, however, is that during that time, Gabriel Davis had over 200 receiving yards and four touchdowns. The problem is likely to be similar with the Bengals: if you give Chase increased surveillance, what will happen to Tee Higgins. CJ Uzomah and Tyler Boyd? The Bengals have great depth in their receiving group.
For KC, the best way to stem the threat posed by aerial play is to make sure there is no pass! In other words, we must try to emulate what the defensive front of the Titans was able to accomplish despite the loss last Saturday. This unit can’t afford to have a bad game, because the secondary doesn’t have the resources in my opinion to stop the Bengals receivers.
It should also come as no surprise that the Chiefs employ against the Bengals the same strategy that several clubs use against KC, that is to say to have marauders in the deep areas, thus inviting the visitors to run with Joe Mixon, thus limiting the damage. It’s probably the thing to do to avoid Chase’s 72 and 69 yard touchdowns in the previous game.
For his part, Mahomes has been using his backfield with great accuracy since the start of the playoffs. Edwards-Helaire and McKinnon had their say. That doesn’t mean Mahomes isn’t making spectacular plays anymore – it’s still in his nature, after all – but you can feel he’s comfortable going about it in a more methodical way. And the proof that the tactic works is that the Chiefs continue to gain a lot of yards. They learned from their shaky start to the season.
It’s been 17 games now that the Chiefs have seen their rivals try to stop the big aerial play with Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. No need to tell you that they have known for a long time that this is the deposit for them, and they know how to take advantage of it.
* comments collected by Maxime Desroches
