Patrick Mahomes credits Joe Burrow with why the Bengals have Chiefs number

It was a rematch of the 2021 AFC Championship Game. And it was a major case of déjà vu for the Kansas City Chiefs, who fell to the Bengals once again.

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs took a five-game winning streak into Cincinnati on Sunday. Andy Reid’s club left the Queen City on the short end of a 27-24 score. And for the third time in as many games against the Bengals dating back to 2021, the Chiefs owned a lead.

Why has Zac Taylor’s team been able to do what most teams haven’t? The six-year signal-caller gave a pretty simple and concise explanation (via Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports) as to why he and his team have dropped three straight games, including last year’s AFC title game, to Taylor’s club.

“First off, they have a great quarterback, and a guy who’s won a lot of football games, even if that was in college, and now he’s won a lot of football games in the NFL. He’s someone that competes to the very end, too. They’ve got playmakers all over there, they’re well-coached (and) have a good defense. At the end of the day, they’ve executed at a higher level in the critical situations.”

Patrick Mahomes praises Joe Burrow as why Bengals have one up on Chiefs

Quarterback Joe Burrow has helped the Bengals put up 34, 27 and 27 points, respectively, in those three games vs. Kansas City. In those contests, he’s combined to connect on 78-of-108 passes (71.6 percent) for 982 yards, eight touchdowns and just one interception. He also ran for the team’s first TD in Sunday’s 27-24 victory.

Early in the second quarter, Cincinnati owned a 14-3 lead. But the Chiefs responded in a big way and eventually owned a 24-17 advantage entering the final quarter. But the Bengals scored the final 10 points of the game and also shut out Reid’s team in the fourth quarter.

“Their defense changes up a lot of different coverages,” added Mahomes. “They did a good job trying to take Travis away as much as possible, and that’s why you saw a lot of the other guys making catches.”

Would it be a shock to see the Chiefs and Bengals square off in the postseason next month? Hardly. But can Reid’s team solve this very talented foe?