Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow insists there’s no cause for alarm as the Bengals head Sunday to Kansas City, where the Super Bowl champion Chiefs will be out to hand them a second straight NFL defeat.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs edged the Baltimore Ravens in a close-run season opener, while the heavily favored Bengals were shocked by the New England Patriots.
Now it’s a rare early season matchup for two teams more accustomed to meeting deep with playoff position on the line or in the post-season itself.
The Bengals beat the Chiefs in January 2022 to reach the Super Bowl for the first time in 33 years. The Chiefs avenged that defeat in the AFC Championship game the next season.
On paper, the Chiefs pose a formidable challenge, but Burrow is 3-1 against Kansas City and is the only active quarterback with three wins against Mahomes.
More importantly, Burrow said, he’s the kind of player who improves through game play.
“It’s just that I learn a lot from my mistakes, learn a lot week-to-week, game-to-game and usually I’m able to apply that pretty well,” said Burrow, who also quashed suggestions that he was hindered against New England by pain in his surgically repaired right wrist.
Video images of Burrow flexing and rubbing the wrist sparked concern on social media — as did a moment when he appeared to hesitate picking up a water bottle.
“I just drank water,” Burrow said, adding that the wrist flexing was now a normal part maintaining the joint’s mobility.
“That’s part of ligament injuries,” Burrow said. “If you don’t move it, you’re going to lose it, so I’m always moving it around, keeping it loose, keeping my mobility the way it’s supposed to be, so it’s going to continue to happen.
“It feels great,” he added. “It feels better this week than it did last week, than it did the week before, so it’s continually getting better.”
The Chiefs launched their bid for a historic Super Bowl three-peat with a victory only after a video review denied the Ravens a touchdown on their game’s final play.
‘A rise in intensity’
Having held off Baltimore in a rematch of last season’s AFC Championship game, Mahomes said the Bengals remained a significant foe, even so early in the season.
“These games are going to matter at the end of the year,” Mahomes said. “Obviously it’s early in the season. Everybody’s working through stuff. Everybody’s trying to get better and better.
“But you know that this could be a tiebreaker, whatever you want to call it, at the end of the year, that determines seeding for the playoffs. So there’s definitely a rise in intensity, especially in these games against other contenders.”
Among other games on Sunday, the Patriots will try to build on their upset week-one win when they host Seattle, which opened their season with a win over Denver.
In other match-ups of week-one winners, Dallas host New Orleans, Detroit host Tampa Bay, Minnesota host San Francisco and Houston host Chicago.
