The Bengals have operated this season with a "everybody's against us" mentality, but it appears the tables have turned.
Cincinnati is a consensus 1-point favorite over the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game as of Wednesday. There is concern over how Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes will play after suffering a high ankle sprain in a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars last Saturday.
The Chiefs signal-caller was a full participant in practice Wednesday, but regardless, Mahomes will be a full-go.
The Bengals are not taking Kansas City lightly despite Joe Burrow's 3-0 record over his QB counterpart. However, there was one moment when Cincinnati seemed to slip up and get a little ahead of themselves.
"We'll see y'all in 'Burrowhead,' " cornerback Mike Hilton said during Sunday's win over the Buffalo Bills, per NFL Films. "Yeah, baby. Let that sink in your mind. We'll see y'all in 'Burrowhead.' "
Bengals fans have seemed to run with the "Burrowhead" nickname for the Chiefs' home stadium, and of course, Kansas City players have caught wind of it.
"Getting everybody fired up," tight end Travis Kelce said on his podcast "New Heights" on Wednesday. "We are the loudest stadium in the world on record, 142 decibels."
"Did you gets break the record this week?" Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce asked.
"I don't know," Travis Kelce said. "Maybe we'll have to break it this week because a lot of Cincinnati Bengals fans are calling it 'Burrowhead' instead of Arrowhead. They're throwing a lot of bulletin-board material out there, man."
That's probably the last thing Cincinnati wants, but that's why the game is played on the field. Though, that's probably the last sort of trash talk fans likely will hear before Sunday's game kicks off.
