The Kansas City Chiefs' regular-season match-up with the Cincinnati Bengals will take place much sooner than fans are used to, as the Bengals come to town on Sunday for a Week 2 showdown. Since this rivalry between the two teams started in 2021, the Chiefs and Bengals have played late in the regular season and then met in the playoffs in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
On that note, it's a bit weird to already be preparing for a game against the Bengals. This is a good time for the Chiefs to face Cincinnati considering the Bengals' annual slow starts since Zac Taylor took over as the team's head coach in 2019. The Bengals are 1-10 in Weeks 1 and 2 during that time.
In other words, this is a good time to get the Bengals because they haven't gotten hot yet, something they did during the 2021 and 2022 seasons after slow starts.
While we don't root for injuries, another thing to hone in on as the Chiefs prepare to host the Bengals is that Joe Burrow is clearly still dealing with soreness from his wrist. Burrow's 2023 season came to an end in Week 10 last season when he injured his wrist in a Thursday night game against the Ravens.
In Burrow's first game since sustaining that injury, he played poorly and was seen struggling to grip a Gatorade bottle while on the bench. Is the injury giving him more problems than he's letting on?
Chiefs might not be facing a fully healthy Joe Burrow
Burrow's first start of the 2024 campaign could have gone much better, as the former number one overall pick threw for just 164 yards with zero touchdowns or zero interceptions. The Bengals looked like a far cry from what people thought they were going to be this year and considering they opened the season against the New England Patriots and still lost, that's not a great look for Cincinnati.
From Burrow's perspective, however, the whole thing is laughable. When speaking to reporters, he stated he had no idea what people were even talking about. "I don't know. I drank water," said Burrow.
While the Bengals have notoriously started their regular seasons slow, this game is going to be different for them. These two teams hate each other and whoever wins will have bragging rights until these two potentially meet up in the playoffs. If there's a chance that Burrow and his Bengals flip the switch and right the ship earlier than they usually do, don't be shocked if that happens against Kansas City.
