Report: Chiefs will have Tyrann Mathieu back for AFC Championship vs. Bengals

The Chiefs lost star safety Tyrann Mathieu early in the win over the Bills with a concussion, but now they’ll get him back for the AFC Championship Game.

While many people were quick to point out the poor performance of the Bills in the Divisional Round as they failed to keep Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs out of field goal range with just 13 seconds ont he clock, that doesn’t tell the whole story. The truth of the matter is that the Kansas City defense allowed Josh Allen and Buffalo to move down the field with ease.

A big reason for that, however, was the fact that star defensive back Tyrann Mathieu went back to the locker room on the first series of the game for the Chiefs defense and never returned after suffering a concussion. And after the win, that put into doubt his availability for the AFC Championship Game against the Bengals.

Those concerns can be put to bed, though. As reported by FanSided’s own Matt Verderame, Mathieu will be on the field for the Chiefs on Sunday against Cincinnati barring something “unforeseen”.

Chiefs: Tyrann Mathieu return for AFC Championship Game is crucial

Because of what happened against the Bills and, frankly, in the regular-season matchup against the Bengals, getting the Honey Badger back is absolutely crucial for the Chiefs.

For as improved as the Kansas City defense has been down the stretch, they are not a deep team in the secondary. That’s why Allen was able to have so much success last week against the depleted defense and, to the same tune, why Joe Burrow had so much success in the regular season when they weren’t missing as many players.

Though having Mathieu isn’t a cure-all for the Chiefs, it can do a lot, particularly against the Bengals’ potent deep passing attack. This is a huge turn of events that could very well push them closer to another Super Bowl appearance.