Big Brother Bengals: Cincy Officially Has Kansas City’s Number

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Once again, the Kansas City Chiefs fell to the Cincinnati Bengals in a tight battle. Cincinnati had a strong start and a commanding finish, thanks to miscues from the Chiefs. While Kansas City fought back and battled in the middle of the game, there were multiple reasons as to why the Chiefs lost. Simply put, the Bengals officially have Kansas City’s number right now, proving to be the first real big brother threat to the Chiefs, so to speak.

Joe Burrow has three career victories over Patrick Mahomes. The only other quarterback to have done that? That would be Tom Brady, of course. While not a carbon copy of the greatest quarterback of all-time, Burrow wins with similar poise, accuracy, anticipation, decision-making and awareness in the pocket. Elsewhere, Cincinnati is multiple both offensively and defensively, throwing a multitude of different looks at opponents.

The Chiefs have not fully learned the lessons from previous meetings against the Bengals. Meanwhile, we will look back on the most significant issues that led to Kansas City losing this game. Proper fixes will certainly be made as the Chiefs approach the final stretch and the postseason. Let’s kick it off.

Burrow Unfazed, Made Easy Money

From start to finish, Burrow seemingly had all day to throw. He could have sat back all day and did not really have to move in the pocket or extend plays. When certain throws were covered, Burrow delivered absolute daggers with his legs. Sure, some throws were open. That was thanks to the ability of the Bengals pass catchers to sit quickly in the soft spots of zones. But when he needed to be perfect through the air, Burrow dropped dimes, bullets and darts around and in between defenders.

Obviously, Burrow already demonstrates great mental toughness in got to have it situations. Though, Kansas City never posed a threat to the Cincinnati passer, overall. He distributed it around the entire field, getting plenty of different pieces involved. This kept the Chiefs guessing, as a result. Elsewhere, Burrow put Kansas City in precarious positions deep down the field. The recent stretch of play of the Bengals quarterback has been as good or better than any of the top quarterbacks from this season.

Turnovers Slightly Beginning To Rise For Chiefs Offense

The Travis Kelce fumble was the biggest momentum changer. Of course, this came late, after the Chiefs were fairly clean in the second and third quarters offensively. We have not seen Kelce fumble much in recent years. Moreover, that was his first fumble lost all season long. The offensive turnovers are quietly becoming an issue for the Chiefs against the toughest of opponents, however.

Interestingly, Kansas City actually ranks in the bottom third of the league in giveaways. The Chiefs have the same amount of fumbles lost this season, as Mahomes does interceptions. In three games against current AFC playoff teams, the Chiefs have four giveaways this year. All of these resulted because of bad decision-making and poor fundamentals. Almost all of these turnovers against current AFC playoff teams happened late in the second half of games, to boot.

These turnovers were not all due to good plays by the opposing defenses. Simply put, the Chiefs have been easily gifting the opponent with devastating giveaways. Certainly, those opponents are already full of talent. Kansas City can also comeback against almost anyone, if given the chance. Yet, the turnovers late in games must decrease against top competitors.

Cincinnati Outclasses KC In Situational Football

If a playoff rematch occurs again this upcoming postseason, this is an area where the Chiefs must improve when facing the Bengals. Yes, Kansas City held Cincinnati to two field goals and Carlos Dunlap made a crucial stop on fourth down, while the Bengals were in the red zone. Nonetheless, the Bengals made the correct reads and decisions on seemingly every third down. Cincinnati finished the day by being successful on seven of their 11 third down attempts on offense.

It was not just that the Bengals converted. In fact, Kansas City had many chances to get off the field, get good field position and could have made tackles short of the sticks. That is the simple part of it. Whereas with the play calling decisions, Cincinnati continually attacked the Chiefs defense at their weakest areas. The select group of successive plays that the Bengals have ready in late game moments just put the Chiefs on their heels. That was the case for Kansas City not just in this loss, but in last year’s losses to Cincinnati as well. Mainly, this is an area where the Bengals have just been perfect and much more comfortable than the Chiefs when the game has been on the line.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs articles and analysis throughout this week. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.