Cincinnati vs Kansas City prediction, game preview, how to watch and lines for the AFC Championship, Sunday, January 30
Kansas City vs Cincinnati AFC Championship How To Watch
Date: Sunday, January 30
Game Time: 3:00 ET
Venue: GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO
How To Watch: CBS
Record: Cincinnati (10-7), Kansas City (12-5)
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Cincinnati vs Kansas City AFC Championship Game Preview
Why Cincinnati Will Win the AFC Championship
Firepower.
Nah, Joe Burrow and JaMarr Chase aren’t going to light up the Chiefs like they did in their 34-31 win back in Week 17 – Burrow threw for almost 450 yards and Chase went off for 266 yards and three scores – but the offense has the ability to rip apart a beaten up Kansas City secondary.
The hope is for Tyann Mathieu to be back after suffering a concussion early on in the win over Buffalo, and there’s decent depth – at least brand name-wise – in the secondary, but the same crew that couldn’t handle Gabriel Davis now has to deal with Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd.
The Chiefs were able to erase Stefan Diggs, but Josh Allen was able to buy just enough time to get the ball to the other parts. The Bengal other parts are better.
Defensively, the secondary might be getting hit hard, but it’s forcing mistakes. Patrick Mahomes won’t make the same forced throws Ryan Tannehill did in Cincinnati’s win over the Titans, but the Bengal D has forced seven takeaways – three against Tennessee – in the last three games.
It didn’t come up with any against Kansas City the first time around and still managed to win.
Yeah, the Bengal defense has to at least pressure Mahomes and make him improvise a bit. Yeah, the run defense has been great over the second half of the season and Kansas City doesn’t have to worry that much about the running backs. But …
Again, this will come down to being able to keep up the pace. The Bengals can do that just fine, and in the playoffs so far, they’ve been able to win even when they’re not bombing away for a gajillion yards.
However …
– Why Kansas City Will Win
– What’s Going To Happen, Prediction