Chiefs-Bengals Matchup Draws a Familiar Tone to UFC Rivalry
Cincinnati versus Kansas City round four. Joe Burrow versus Patrick Mahomes. A meeting that is slowly turning into a regular occurrence as the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Cincinnati Bengals in their fourth meeting. It’s the second time these teams will meet in the AFC Championship game in the last two seasons. The tension between these two teams has been building for quite some time now, dating back to last season when the Bengals beat the Chiefs twice, once in the regular season and in the playoffs.
This year, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the regular season but can they beat the Chiefs again in the postseason? Who knows. But, this rivalry between these two teams reminds me of a similar rivalry in the octagon. The rivalry is current UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereria and former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. The Cincinnati Bengals are Alex Pereria while the Kansas City Chiefs are Israel Adesanya.
How does Adesanya-Pereria relate to Chiefs-Bengals?
As it stands, the Kansas City Chiefs have yet to beat the Cincinnati Bengals in a head to head meeting. Same thing goes for Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereria. Kansas City is dealing with the same mental block that Adesanya is dealing with when it comes to fighting Pereria. The matchups between Kansas City and Cincinnati have been close, similar to Adesanya-Pereria. You can make a case that Kansas City was the better team in their recent matchups with Cincinnati, same goes for Israel Adesanya being the better fighter in his recent matchups with Alex Pereria.
In the last three matchups, Kansas City has lost to Cincinnati by three points in those meetings. The games have been competitive and have come down to the wire but for some reason Kansas City cannot come up with a way to defeat Cincinnati. Same thing goes for Adesanya-Pereria. Adesanya has yet to overcome his kryptonite with Pereira as he lost to Pereira in November of last year. In that fight, Adesanya looked like the better fighter for most of the fight but made costly mistakes that ended up costing him not only the fight but his belt in the process.
Mental Game for Chiefs-Bengals
When it comes to sports, it is not just physical, it is also mental. When you lose to an opponent multiple times and in a fashion that is heartbreaking it can mess with you from a mental standpoint. You begin to doubt yourself, and question whether you can ever beat this opponent. At one point, Kansas City has questioned whether or not they can beat this team but they will never admit it publicly.
As for Cincinnati, they are enjoying this. After securing their win over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC divisional playoff game. Some of the Cincinnati players, specifically cornerback Mike Hilton said the team was going back to “Burrowhead”, which was a shot at Kansas City’s home stadium Arrowhead but using Joe Burrow’s last name as a reference.
Right now, the Bengals have the edge over the Chiefs from a mental standpoint but don’t tell them that. Cincinnati still believes that they are the underdog despite beating Kansas City in the AFC Championship last season.
You can argue that the Bengals are trying to make people believe they are the underdog when in reality they aren’t but teams usually use this strategy in order to hype themselves up for the upcoming game. The Bengals have been providing a lot of bulletin board material for the Chiefs for this upcoming AFC championship game this Sunday and the Chiefs have been aware of it. The question is whether the Chiefs will use that as extra motivation so they can reach their third Super Bowl under Andy Reid.
How can the Kansas City Chiefs avoid the same mistakes when facing the Cincinnati Bengals that Israel Adesanya made when he faced Alex Pereira?
As I’ve stated previously, the Chiefs-Bengals have had their fair share of matchups that have come down to the wire. However, Kansas City has shown at times to make crucial mistakes that have led to their downfall against their opponent. In the first meeting, Kansas City had a seven point lead heading into the fourth quarter, but at times the Chiefs made self-inflicted mistakes that changed the tide of the game. Former Chiefs and current wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins Tyreek Hill had a crucial drop at the end of the second quarter that could have put the game away for the Chiefs. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnolo didn’t adjust to take away Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and Chase took over during that game.
In the AFC Championship game, the Chiefs got out to a huge lead and towards the end of the first half but questionable play-calling in the red zone for Kansas City gave Cincinnati life. The game eventually went to overtime and Cincinnati was able to pull out a victory. You can make the argument Kansas City was the better team in both of the meetings but mental mistakes cost the team a chance at a victory. Third meeting took place during this season, instead of Kansas City being the better team it was Cincinnati. Tightly contested game but key mistakes down the stretch by Kansas City led to a Cincinnati victory and Cincinnati goes up 3-0 in the head to head meeting.
How does this relate to Adesanya-Pereira? Similar story but different outcomes. In the first meeting, Adesanya and Pereira fought against each other but in a kickboxing setting and Pereira was able to secure a victory unanimously. Some may argue that Adesanya was the better fighter in the first fight but the judges thought differently. Second fight, Adesanya looked like the better fighter but Pereira was able to knock out Adesanya and he won that fight. The third fight took place this time in the octagon. The stakes were much higher as Adesanya was the reigning UFC middleweight champion and Pereira was the number one contender for the title.
It was a slow buildup but the fight began to get interesting in the later rounds, Adesanya looked like he was in control but Pereira found a way to take the fight to Adesanya and win the title. It seemed as if from the mental perspective, Adesanya lost his way which led to his defeat. Adesanya wasn’t able to overcome his kryptonite but the Kansas City Chiefs have an opportunity to overcome theirs. Patrick Mahomes suffered an ankle injury in last week’s divisional playoff win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and many believed that could play a part in the Chiefs chances at beating the Bengals. However, he looks healthy enough to play and he was a full participant at practice on Wednesday and Thursday.
For Kansas City to win this AFC Championship game against Cincinnati, they must run the ball effectively and efficiently, be efficient in the passing game, and don’t let the Ja’marr Chase and Joe Burrow beat you. Most importantly, don’t make mistakes that will be costly. Kansas City might not have the better team in this matchup but we have seen the better team lose on multiple occasions. Kansas City has a chance to do something Israel Adesanya didn’t do in which they beat their rival. Can they do it? We will find out Sunday.
