Fireworks show
Mahomes. Hill. Kelce. Burrow. Chase. Mixon. The road to Super Bowl may be paved with points — and lots of them.
Opening line: Chiefs by 7, according to FanDuel SportsBook. Series record: Bengals lead 16-14.
Last meeting: Bengals beat Chiefs 34-31 on Jan. 2 in Cincinnati. Last week: Bengals beat Titans 19-16; Chiefs beat Bills 42-36.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Bengals: WR Ja’Marr Chase made just about every defense look foolish this season, catching 81 passes for 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns. A disproportionate number of all those came in Week 17 against Kansas City, when Joe Burrow found him 11 times for 266 yards and three TDs in a 34-31 win.
Chierfs: CBs Charvarius Ward and L’Jarius Sneed need to play better than they did last week against Buffalo, when Josh Allen shredded them in the second half of a shootout. That’s because they won’t just be dealing with Chase but also Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd.
KEY MATCHUP
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes against the Bengals’ poorly
ranked pass defense: Mahomes had a relatively pedestrian game, at least by his standards, with 259 yards passing and two TDs against Cincinnati near the end of the regular season. So far, Mahomes has thrown for 404 yards and five TDs against Pittsburgh and 378 and three TDs against Buffalo in the playoffs.
STATS AND STUFF
The AFC North champion Bengals beat the Raiders 26-19 in the wild-card game, then needed a winning 52-yard field goal from rookie Evan McPherson to beat the top-seeded Titans last Saturday . ... The AFC West champion Chiefs are hosting a championship game for a record fourth straight year. The Raiders (1973-77), Bills (1990-93) and Patriots (2011-18) are the only others to make at least four straight title game appearances . ... Kansas City is trying to reach its third straight Super Bowl, which would match the second-longest streak in NFL history . ... The Raiders win was the first in the postseason for the Bengals in three decades. The win at Nashville was their first on the road in the playoffs in team history.