The Cincinnati Bengals are hoping to repeat a formula that got them to the Super Bowl last season.
In the 2021 season, the Bengals beat the Chiefs in the regular season and AFC Championship Game. The Bengals also beat the Chiefs 27-24 last month in Cincinnati.
Sunday’s AFC Championship Game will be the teams’ fourth meeting in 392 days.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was asked by reporters Wednesday if Sunday’s game looks like a divisional matchup.
“It really, really is. We’ve played them twice in the last couple of seasons and really, basically a month apart each time, so we know them, they know us. It will be fun,” Burrow said.
When asked if he enjoys hearing teammates and Bengals fans refer to Arrowhead Stadium as “Burrowhead” due to last year’s win in the AFC title game, Burrow cleverly avoided using that name.
Instead, Burrow explained why he believes the Chiefs should be considered Sunday favorites, even after the opening line changed quickly as punters initially bet on the Bengals.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Chiefs are now 1-point favorites, which should apparently please Burrow.
“We’ve been to these spots,” Burrow said. “We have the experience, we know which team we play for. A team that has been to this game for the past five seasons, and they’ve all been to that stadium.
“So for me, they are still the team to beat and so we are coming for them. But we know it will be tough. We know it will be fought and we know what kind of players they have on that side.”
Burrow was asked what he learned from last year’s AFC Championship Game which can be used until Sunday.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Burrow said. We just (gained) more experience, more reps. We know the team we play against. We’ve played them a lot, and so I’m sure they’ll have some wrinkles on things they’ve shown us in the past, whether it was the last game or last year’s playoffs, because we know they’re going to study all three of these games just like we.
“So we’ll have to be ready for anything.”
The decibel level of the Arrowhead Stadium crowd has been known to give opposing quarterbacks headaches.
But Burrow believes the Bengals will be prepared for the noise, based on last year’s game in Kansas City.
“It was definitely loud,” Burrow said. “But I think we excel in those situations and our communication has been great on the road. He was flawless last week in Buffalo in a really loud and hostile environment and that’s something we’re proud of, is that the communication is on the same page and it goes from there.
