AFC Championship Game: 5 bold predictions for Chiefs vs. Bengals
By John Buhler
It will be the Cincinnati Bengals at the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2021 AFC Championship Game.
The Lamar Hunt Trophy will be handed out at Arrowhead Stadium for the fourth year in a row, as the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2021 AFC Championship Game.
Kansas City returns to the conference title bout with a third straight trip to the Super Bowl on the line. The Chiefs waxed the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild card round before winning a barn-burner in overtime over the Buffalo Bills. While getting to a Super Bowl for the third year in a row is a huge accomplishment for any team, Chiefs Kingdom clearly views this season as Lombardi or bust.
As for Cincinnati, this is untrodden territory for the Bengals. After winning the AFC North for the first time in years, the Bengals won tight ones over the Las Vegas Raiders at home and the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, respectively. This is their third trip to the conference title bout in franchise history. The last two times they have gotten this far, the Bengals have won the AFC.
Here are five bold predictions that are absolutely happening in the 2021 AFC Championship Game.
AFC Championship Game: 5 bold predictions for Bengals at Chiefs
5. A slow start for Cincinnati will give Kansas City a huge advantage late
It may not be as bad of a start to the game as what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers experience at home last week to the Los Angeles Rams, but it will appear that the Bengals are not ready for the big stage right out of the gate. A few three-and-outs and a few bad defensive lapses will give the Chiefs a multi-score advantage heading into the second quarter. They may be up by like 17-3.
However, the Chiefs will let up on the gas in the final three quarters for Cincinnati to at least make a game of this. Surely, there will be a blown call that all of Chiefs Kingdom will be apoplectic over, as Burrow gets the benefit from the zebras for the third week in a row. Kansas City has more talent and more experience than the Bengals, but a slow start by Cincinnati is what will save them.
Expect for Arrowhead Stadium to be louder than the inside of the drum once we get to kickoff.