Chiefs and Bengals-Matchup of Epic Magnitude. What to Expect?
By Lucas Murphy
The Kansas City Chiefs Will Clash against a Hungry Cincinnati Bengals Team Looking to Make the Playoffs.
The Kansas City Chiefs have won eight consecutive football games and their most recent was a 36-10 victory over the Pittsburg Steelers. Through that stretch of games, they have faced many forms of adversity. Whether players experienced injury or ended up on the reserve/Covid-19 list, this football team has not been 100%. Heading into Week 17, Kansas City is playing a young, talented Cincinnati football team that is trying to gain a higher seeding in the AFC playoff picture. So what can we expect in this matchup?
The Kansas City Chiefs Will Have a Tall Task on Defense
The Chiefs’ defense will get tested in many forms this week. The Bengals have deployed a running game led by running back Joe Mixon. Mixon is currently 2nd in the NFL with 1,159 yards on the ground, only behind Indianapolis Colt Jonathan Taylor. In 15 games played, Mixon has an average of 4.1 yards per carry on 280 attempts. He is averaging 77.3 yards per game and has scored 13 rushing touchdowns.
On the opposite end, getting linebacker Nick Bolton back will help slow down the Bengals’ running attack. Bolton is a downhill, physical linebacker who plays the run very well. We have seen Bolton’s coverage improve over the season as well. According to ESPN, Bolton is ranked 27th in the NFL with 102 total tackles. As a rookie, Bolton has an impressive 11 tackles for a loss. He is coming off of the reserve/Covid-19 list, and if fully healthy, I would expect him to have a big game.