How the Bengals and Chiefs match up Sunday in the AFC championship game for the chance to play in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium on Feb. 13:
When Bengals have the ball
Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo turned 62 last month and began his coaching career in 1981. That's the sort of heft that was behind his recent assessment that Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow is "Brady like." Now, comparing a second-year player to Tom Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion, is indeed a foray into hyperbole. But Burrow is off to an impressive start in his postseason career. He completed 52 of 71 passes for 592 yards and two touchdowns — with one interception — in victories over Las Vegas and Tennessee to reach this AFC title game. The Bengals beat the Titans last weekend despite Burrow being sacked nine times after a regular season in which he was sacked a league-high 51 times. The Chiefs, however, finished 29th with only 31 sacks. Burrow, despite the pressure, has been very good with ball security. His lone interception since Dec. 5 came last week. Spagnuolo said Burrow takes "smart, intelligent sacks, if there is such a thing. He's smart enough to know you don't want to make a mistake." Along with standout rookie Ja'Marr Chase, Burrow has notable targets in Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. "It's not like they have one weapon," Spagnuolo said. "They're all capable of what we call 'wrecking the game.' We've got to pay a lot of attention to all three of them." They know this all too well. Burrow completed 30 of 39 passes for 448 yards and four touchdowns against the Chiefs in a 34-31 home victory on Jan. 2.
