JOE BURROW 2022 regular season stats
BENGALS (14-4) at CHIEFS (15-3) 6:30 p.m. EST Sunday, CBS GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City Line: Chiefs by 1 Series record: Bengals lead 18-14
NFL ranks
Bengals offense: Overall (8), rush (27), pass (5), scoring (7)
Bengals defense: Overall (16), rush (7), pass (23), scoring (6)
Chiefs offense: Overall (1), rush (20), pass (1), scoring (1)
Chiefs defense: Overall (11), rush (8), pass (18), scoring (16)
Turnover differential: Bengals plus-6;
Chiefs minus-3
Players to watch
Bengals: QB Joe Burrow is 3-0 against Chiefs counterpart Patrick Mahomes, including his comeback win in last year’s AFC title game. He’s coming off a season in which he set Bengals records for completions (414), pass attempts (606) and touchdown passes (35). He threw for 250 yards with two touchdowns and a pick in last year’s AFC championship game.
Chiefs: All eyes are on Mahomes, and more specifically his right ankle, which was sprained in last weekend’s divisional win over Jacksonville. Mahomes had X-rays during the game but returned to lead Kansas City to the eventual clinching touchdown in the fourth quarter. He had an MRI exam the following day that confirmed a high ankle sprain, but Mahomes and Chiefs coach Andy Reid insisted all week that he would play against the Bengals. The All-Pro quarterback has had perhaps his best season, throwing for a career-high 5,250 yards with 41 touchdown passes.
Key matchup
The Bengals’ fleet of wide receivers, led by Ja’Marr Chase, against the Kansas City defensive backfield, which regularly plays three rookie cornerbacks and a rookie safety. Chase had seven catches for 97 yards in the Bengals’ 27-24 win in December, while Tyler Boyd had four catches for 60 yards and Tee Higgins had three for 35 yards and a score.
Key injuries
Bengals OG Alex Cappa (ankle) and OT Jonah Williams (knee) missed practice this week while CB Tre Flowers (hamstring) and LB Joe Bachie (foot) were limited. Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman (pelvis) also was limited.
Stats & stuff
This is the record fifth straight conference championship game hosted by Kansas City. The five consecutive appearances by the
Chiefs are tied with Oakland (1973-77) and behind only the Patriots (2011-18) for the most in NFL history . ... The Bengals are making their fourth AFC championship appearance . ... Bengals RB Joe Mixon needs 43 yards rushing to pass Pete Johnson (5,421) for fourth in franchise history . ... Chase set the Bengals single-game record for yards receiving with 266 against Kansas City in a win on Jan. 2, 2022 . ... Bengals K Evan McPherson was 4 for 4 on field goals and hit his only PAT try in last year’s AFC title game . ... Cincinnati ran for 172 yards in last week’s divisional win over Buffalo, the fourth-best postseason total in franchise history . ... Chiefs coach Andy Reid is tied with Tom Landry with 20 postseason wins. The only coach with more is the Patriots’ Bill Belichick (31) . ... TE Travis Kelce and LS James Winchester set the Chiefs record last week with their 16th career playoff games . ... Kelce had 14 catches last week against Jacksonville, setting a Chiefs playoff record. The total was one off the NFL postseason record shared by the Saints’ Darren Sproles and the Patriots’ James White . ... Kelce has 1,389 yards receiving in the playoffs, tied with the retired Rob Gronkowski for third in NFL history.
Kelce needs 53 yards to pass Julian Edelman for second behind Jerry Rice . ... Mahomes is 9-3 in the playoffs as an NFL starter . ... Mahomes needs three TD passes to pass
Dan Marino (32) for eighth on the league’s career postseason list . ... Mahomes and
Chiefs backup Chad Henne will become two of five QBs to be active for five consecutive conference championship games. Tom Brady, Ken Stabler and Daryle Lamonica are the others . ... Chiefs DE Frank Clark has 12 playoff sacks, tied with Reggie White for No. 4 on the career list since they became an official stat in 1982.