The rematch is officially set. This Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs will face off in Arrowhead Stadium for the right to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LVII. These two teams played in the AFC Championship game last year, with the Bengals winning in overtime, 27-24. The Bengals and Chiefs also met in the regular season this year in Cincinnati, with the Bengals again emerging victorious, 27-24.
Cincy is riding high following its 17-point upset win over the Bills in snowy Buffalo last weekend. It was a dominant performance in which both the offense and defense shined, and the Bengals are more than ready to do the same thing again this week. These players aren't scared of Arrowhead Stadium. In fact, Bengals defensive back Mike Hilton renamed the Chiefs home, "Burrowhead" after star quarterback Joe Burrow.
Burrowhead 📍 pic.twitter.com/QQUL8ELEt9
— ZIM (@zimwhodey) January 24, 2023
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce heard that comment, and addressed it with his brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, on their "New Heights" podcast (H/T USA TODAY).
Travis Kelce addresses Bengals "Burrowhead" @newheightshow pic.twitter.com/btKDIBREgo
— BBQ Dom (@RealBBQDom) January 25, 2023
Travis Kelce: "Getting everybody fired up. We are the loudest stadium in the world, on record. 142 decibels."
Jason Kelce: "Did you guys break the record this week?"
Travis Kelce: "I don't know, I don't know. Maybe we're gonna have to break it this week because a lot of Cincinnati Bengals fans are calling it 'Burrowhead' instead of Arrowhead. They're throwing a lot of bulletin board material out there."
The Bengals have every reason to be confident in their quarterback. Burrow is 3-0 against Patrick Mahomes, and is the only quarterback to defeat Mahomes three consecutive times. In all three games, the Bengals were either tied or trailing entering the fourth quarter. Burrow is averaging 327.3 passing yards per game against the Chiefs, and has accounted for nine total touchdowns compared to just one turnover. His 121 passer rating vs. Kansas City is Burrow's career best vs. any NFL opponent he's faced at least twice.
The Bengals and Chiefs are clearly the best teams in the AFC, and the NFL world is ready for another installment in this budding rivalry.
