Bengals WR adds another layer to Chiefs' rivalry after recent comments
Calling the newfound Kansas City Chiefs-Cincinnati Bengals games a rivalry would be an understatement. It hasn't been this way for long, but the intensity is one that would make you think the two teams were division rivals that had been playing each other every year for the last 50 years, twice a year.Playing each other […]
Calling the newfound Kansas City Chiefs-Cincinnati Bengals games a rivalry would be an understatement. It hasn't been this way for long, but the intensity is one that would make you think the two teams were division rivals that had been playing each other every year for the last 50 years, twice a year.
Playing each other in back-to-back AFC Championship games will do that. Both teams have superstars at the most important positions in football, and both teams are pretty balanced all around. And let's not act like both sides haven't done their own trash-talking toward one another.
For the Bengals, their trash-talking has come in the form of calling Arrowhead Stadium "Burrowhead" Stadium, and we all saw how that went in the AFC Championship game. We also saw a young Kansas City secondary play amazing defense on one of the best receivers in the league in Ja'Marr Chase – including an interception late in the fourth quarter.
And that defense is even better this year than it was last year. Has the offense gotten worse? Of course, but the defense has become one of the best in the league, and that includes the secondary. But if you ask Chase, he will tell you that they don't do anything special.
"If I'm being honest, nothing," Chase told reporters in the locker room. "They just know how to play us; they know the leverages; they know what splits we are in. They just know what we're going to do in certain moments. They throw a few double-doubles at us to stop the two best players on our side, and that's all they do. I mean, it's not really like they got a Jalen Ramsey on the squad."
Well, Chase is right; the Chiefs don't have Jalen Ramsey on their team. They have L'Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie, who are both better than Ramsey this season. Ramsey is great, but his play has faltered since he first got to the Rams and when he was on the Jaguars.
Sneed is likely a top-three cornerback in the league this year. He goes against the other team's best receiver every week. He has locked down guys like Justin Jefferson, Stefon Diggs, Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill, and any other name you can think of. Sneed has yet to give up 100 receiving yards on the year. He may not be a superstar player, but he has superstar talent.
Later, Chase was asked if he wanted to walk his statement back, considering the last time they played, that same secondary he was talking about actually played Chase pretty well.
"They can take it how they want it; I don't care," Chase continued. "At the end of the day, there is so much that I can do myself. It's not like I'm Ironman; I can't throw the football to myself. It's a team sport. I know what I see on paper, I know what I see in game. That's why they double everybody… They know I'm good, they know how to play us… I'm just adding fire to the fuel right now."
First, let's start by clarifying: yes, he did say adding fire to the fuel, not fuel to the fire.
So, while trying to discredit the Chiefs' defense like Chase is known for doing, and has done so many times now during this rivalry, he ended up making himself look bad. Instead of walking it back as he could have, he went the route of almost throwing his quarterback under the bus because he did not get the ball enough, at least, that's how a lot of people will take his comments.
Chase is a great player, one of the best in the league. No one will take that away from him. The Chiefs know that too, and while they have discredited the Bengals a lot, such as Willie Gay saying the Bengals don't do anything or Justin Reid not knowing the name of their tight end, any defender on the Chiefs will tell you how special Chase is.
But there is one more thing to address while we are here. Chase said that the Chiefs double everyone, and I'd say that is a bit of stretching the truth. Have they doubled, and do they double players? Yes. Every team does that. However, the Chiefs don't do it as often as Chase is making it seem like they do.
Kansas City is known for blitzing a lot, as that is the persona of defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. He disguises cornerback blitz as well as anyone in the league, which is why Trent McDuffie and Sneed have as many sacks as they do in their young careers. So, that would make it extremely hard to double-team opposing teams players when you have a team that blitzes as often as Kansas City does.
Talk is cheap, though. This rivalry will be just that, and no matter how many times one player on the other team, whether it be Cincinnati or Kansas City, talks trash, it's not going to stop anytime soon. That's what makes rivalries so beautiful.
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.
