One of the most interesting matchups in the Week 13 Sunday slate of games is the one between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals at Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium. This 2021 AFC Championship game rematch puts the two teams who fought it out to a Bengals 27-27 overtime win against each other once again, and when Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes takes the field, he can expect to see a lot of what he saw against the Bengals’ defense before — especially in the second half and overtime.
In that second half and overtime, the Bengals did two things. They played more man coverage, and they threw more coverage drops from their defensive linemen. Overall in that game, per Sports Info Solutions, the Bengals rushed three or fewer defenders against Mahomes on 19 of Mahomes’ dropbacks. Mahomes completed eight of 15 passes for 74 yards, 35 air yards, no touchdowns, one interception, six pressures, four sacks, and a passer rating of 40.1. In the second half and overtime, the Bengals rushed three or fewer on 14 of Mahomes’ dropbacks. Mahomes completed four of 10 passes for 20 yards, one air yard, no touchdowns, that one interception, and a passer rating of… 8.3.
