The Bengals–Chiefs rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs. The teams, who are members of the AFC, met in the AFC Championship Game two years in a row during the 2021–2022 and 2022–2023 playoffs. This rivalry formed recently as both teams established themselves as Super Bowl contenders in the AFC. As of the 2024-2025 season, the Bengals lead the series 18–17, including two playoff meetings with both teams each winning once.[2]
This rivalry has grown in popularity over recent years due to numerous disputes involving players from both teams. Leading up to their regular season matchup in 2023, Bengals star wide receiver, Ja'Marr Chase was quoted disparaging about the Chief's defense, "I know what I see on paper and I know what I see in game. That's why they double everybody. Because they can't do it one-one-one".[3]
History
Early history
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Kansas City was a founding member of the American Football League, first playing in 1960, while Cincinnati was the tenth and final team to join the AFL, first playing in 1968. The Chiefs and Bengals were both part of the league's Western Division, spending two seasons as divisional rivals before the AFL–NFL merger, after which both teams joined the American Football Conference, albeit in separate divisions as the Bengals were moved to the AFC Central division while the Chiefs and the rest of the AFL West would form the AFC West.
2021–present: Burrow and Mahomes era
In the 2020 NFL Draft, the Bengals selected Joe Burrow with the first overall pick, a highly-praised quarterback coming off of a Heisman Trophy and National Championship winning season at LSU.[4] As the Bengals looked to keep building their offense around Burrow, they selected Ja'Marr Chase, Burrow's teammate from LSU, with the fifth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.[5]
Following a season-ending injury during his rookie campaign, Burrow returned to the league in an impressive fashion in 2021.[6] By this time, Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, had already established himself as one of the league's top players, winning Super Bowl MVP in 2020 and having returned to the Super Bowl in 2021. Burrow and Mahomes entered their first head-to-head matchup as two of the league's top statistical quarterbacks of the season.[7] On January 2, 2022, the Chiefs traveled to Paycor Stadium, where they fell to the Bengals 34–31.[2] This victory led to the Bengals clinching the AFC North title, sending Cincinnati to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.[8] During this highly anticipated matchup, Mahomes and the Chiefs jumped to an early lead as they entered the second half up 28–17.[8] As Burrow led the Bengals back from three 14-point deficits, he threw for 466 yards and four touchdowns.[8] With the game tied going into the final drive, Bengals kicker Evan McPherson punched through a 20-yard field goal in dramatic fashion as the clock expired.[8] Following the game, Mahomes found Chase and told him, "Keep going — we'll see you in the playoffs".[8] Mahomes was right, as the teams would meet again in the AFC Championship Game in late January.
On January 30, 2022, the Bengals traveled to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Similar to their previous matchup, the Chiefs jumped out to an early lead, entering the second half up 21–10.[9] However, the Bengals would not go down without a fight, storming back to force the game into overtime. What seemed sure to be a Chiefs victory after their winning of the coin toss quickly turned into opportunity for the Bengals following an interception from their safetyVonn Bell.[9] With the ball in their possession, the Bengals drove downfield and advanced to the Super Bowl with a 31-yard field goal by McPherson in a thrilling 27–24 victory.[10] With this being Cincinnati's first trip to the Super Bowl since 1989, and the Chiefs having been to the previous two, many analysts were quick to call this the start of a rivalry between two AFC powerhouses.[9] Ultimately, the Bengals would go on to lose to the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI, 23–20.
On December 4, 2022, Burrow and Mahomes met for their second regular season matchup in Cincinnati, Ohio. After another back-and-forth battle, the Bengals once again found themselves trailing by a touchdown entering the fourth quarter.[11] On the second play of the fourth quarter, Mahomes found Travis Kelce on a short pass, who was wrestled to the ground by the Cincinnati defense, knocking the ball loose in the process. The fumble was recovered by the Bengals, who drove 53 yards down field for a touchdown to go up 27–24 with just under nine minutes remaining.[12] The Chiefs attempted to tie the game with a 55-yard field goal from Harrison Butker, but fell short. The Bengals were then able to run out the rest of the clock and win the game 27–24.[12] Mahomes finished the game completing 16 of 27 pass attempts with two touchdowns and 223 yards, while Burrow went 25 of 31 with three touchdowns and 286 yards.[13] With this win, Burrow found himself 3-0 against Mahomes and the Chiefs, earning himself high praise from Bengals head coach, Zac Taylor, saying "He's playing at an MVP level – absolutely".[11]
On January 29, 2023, the Bengals again traveled to Arrowhead Stadium for another matchup against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. This matchup was surrounded by pre-game trash talk, with Bengals cornerbackMike Hilton notably referring to the Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium as "Burrowhead", saying "We'll see y'all in Burrowhead" following the Bengals 27–10 divisional round win against the Buffalo Bills.[14] This was in reference to Burrow's record against the Chiefs, which was 3–0 at the time of the quote and their next matchup. On top of multiple wide receivers being unavailable due to injury, Mahomes came into the game with an injured ankle, which he sustained in the Chiefs' divisional round win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.[15] The Bengals tied the game early in the fourth quarter with a two yard touchdown run by Samaje Perine. The teams traded defensive blows for the next 13 minutes, as the score stood 20–20 entering the two minute warning.[16] On a crucial third down play, Mahomes scrambled toward the first down marker, and was about to step out of bounds when he was pushed by Bengals defensive endJoseph Ossai. This penalty resulted in a 15-yard penalty for the Chiefs, moving the offense into field goal range for Harrison Butker to kick a 45-yard field goal to win the game and send Kansas City to Super Bowl LVII.[17]
Game results
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Kansas City Chiefs season-by-season results
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