Bengals' Orlando Brown Jr. pulls back the curtain on rivalry with Chiefs
Four total meetings, two AFC Championship matchups, and a combined point differential of just six. The Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs have become regular enemies over the past two years, and every matchup has come down to the wire. They've been some of the best NFL games in recent memory, as well as the […]
Four total meetings, two AFC Championship matchups, and a combined point differential of just six. The Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs have become regular enemies over the past two years, and every matchup has come down to the wire.
They've been some of the best NFL games in recent memory, as well as the most intense in some cases. Orlando Brown Jr., the Chiefs' former left tackle who now holds the position for the Bengals, can easily recall how much more those matchups meant to him than the rest of the schedule.
"I would definitely say I was more fired up to play the Bengals than any other team personally," Brown said in an appearance on NFL Live.
Brown joined the Chiefs the same year the Bengals took the AFC by surprise and came a couple minutes from winning the Super Bowl. They reached that destination by defeating Brown and the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game, the second of what became three-straight defeats Cincinnati handed Kansas City in a single calendar year.
Cincinnati's streak only made it more enjoyable for Brown and the Chiefs to knock them out of the playoffs back in January on their way to beating the Philadelphia Eagles for ring No. 2.
Tensions have been high each and every time the two franchises have squared off in the past two years; extremely high stakes tend to result in that. But the intensity in the trenches, according to Brown, is so much greater than people realize.
"The trash talk you see isn't even close to what's in between the lines," Brown said. "Not even close."
Very few others have had a better view to absorb it all. One of the best players from this rivalry switching sides so unexpectedly following a Super Bowl victory will only raise the animosity.
Brown will now partake for the opposing side to what he grew used to since 2021. His arrival in Cincinnati gives the Bengals their strongest offensive line in close to a decade.
It's the biggest edge anyone could've provided for the Bengals as they look to take back the AFC crown from the Chiefs.
5 things we’re excited about the Bengals’ New Year’s Eve game vs. Chiefs
The storylines have only gotten better since their last meeting.
Featured image via © Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
