2024 Week 2: Bengals 25, Chiefs 26
Another close game between the Bengals and Chiefs that the Bengals should have won, but the refs stole it from them. 4th and 16 and the Bengals are called for a pass interference and puts KC in a position to win the ball game. That penalty is never called unless it's the Chiefs playing. It’s like watching the Patriots in the height of their dynasty.
Both teams played well, the Bengals just were better because they had a better game plan and the better QB. The Bengals were the better team but neither performance blew me away, just a standard meeting of two good football teams.
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QB Report:
- Joe Burrow (23/36 for 258 yards, 2 TD) looked very good, he’s getting back to his old self. If he can protect his wrist he will have another great year.
- Pat Mahomes (18/25 for 151 yards, 2 TD/ 2 INT) put up yet another lackluster performance. Mahomes has 3 TDs and 3 INTs on the season. He threw another INT but it was called back by a penalty, he leads the league in the stat since 2018. Since 2000 he is tied for second most with Drew Brees and 1 behind Aaron Rodgers.
RB Report:
- Isaiah Pacheco (19-90-0, 5 catches for 21-0/5) went down and UDFA Carson Steele (7-24-0) was and is the lead back for KC going forward. Samaje Perine (1-3-0/1) will be the 3rd down back.
- Kareem Hunt is the only unknown in the KC backfield, who the Chiefs signed Tuesday. This is likely a depth signing in the event Steele or Perine are injured, but it depends on how much juice Hunt has left. If he’s ready to go at a high level he’ll take away from Steele’s usage.
- Zack Moss (12-34-0, 1 catch for 13 yards) took the large majority of snaps over Chase Brown (4-31-0) like he did last week. Instead of having double the snaps like in Week 1, Moss had almost 4x the amount of snaps this weekend. Both running backs look good so I’m not sure why there’s a big disparity in usage.
WR/TE Report:
- KC has a massive weakness on defense, and that is the tight end. I touched on this briefly in the Falcons/Eagles report, as Kyle Pitts is the next TE to face KC.
- Week 1 Isaiah Likely crushed them for 9-111-1, and the Cincy tight ends combined for 14 catches and 151 yards.
- Mike Gesicki (7-91-0/9) had most of the TE work, and this uprising could simply be because of the weak KC defense, but it also looked like there was a bit of a connection, it's tough to gauge. Touchdown week 1, big output week 2, he may be in better standing with Burrow than most tight ends are with their QBs.
- Ja’Marr Chase (4-35-0/5) finally put in effort in an early-season game. The Bengals and Chiefs have a lot of animosity towards each other. Chase had a lower output because KC was swiss-cheese defending the tight end.
- Xavier Worthy (2-17-0/4, 1 rush for 5 yards) had a stat line that I believe will be more of his norm. He’s fast as a bullet but he lacks heavily on the technical side.
- Travis Kelce (1-5-0/3) had another low output game this week. He had 2 plays called back by penalty, no cause for concern.
D/ST Notes:
I’ve already covered the Chiefs defensive woes, but the Bengals defense was solid in this game, better than 2023. If Burrow stays healthy they have a shot at the division title.
