Kansas City Chiefs: Matchups, Keys, & Insights for AFC Championship Game

Appearing in a remarkable fifth straight AFC Championship Game, the Kansas City Chiefs will look to avenge last season’s shocking upset in a rematch with the Cincinnati Bengals. Of course, the biggest story is the health of Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

He suffered a high-ankle sprain during the Divisional Round but is expected to play. Even with a hobbled Mahomes, Kansas City is a slight 1.5-point favorite ahead of Sunday’s matchup after spending some time as a slight underdog.

In what is becoming one of the NFL’s great rivalries, let’s have a look at some key matchups and insights in favor of the Chiefs as they look to make it back to the Big Game. On Thursday, we previewed the matchups and trends that favored the Bengals.

Chiefs QBs have been sacked 26 times this season, the third-fewest in the NFL. The Bengals have sacked the quarterback 30 times this season, the fourth-fewest in the NFL.

Wideout Marquez Valdes-Scantling has gained 20+ yards on 31.0% of receptions this season, second-best of qualified wide receivers. The Bengals have allowed 20+ yards on 16.0% of receptions this season, the fourth-worst in the NFL.

A big-play threat, Valdes-Scantling has gained 687 yards on 42 receptions (16.4 YPR) this season, the fifth-best of qualified wide receivers. The Bengals have allowed 14.1 yards per reception to wideouts this season, the fourth-worst in the NFL.

• When JuJu Smith-Schuster is above his average number of targets (seven targets), his team is 15-6 (.714) since the 2020 season, tied for sixth-best of 58 qualified NFL WRs (League Avg: 432).
• When Marquez Valdes-Scantling is above his average for receiving yards (43 yards), his team is 16-4 (.800) since the 2020 season, tied for best of 48 qualified NFL WRs (League Avg: 494).
• Travis Kelce has caught 12 touchdown passes this season, the most among NFL TEs. Kansas City TEs have averaged 8.8 receptions per game (149/17) this season, the best in the NFL (League Avg: 4.6).
• Patrick Mahomes has averaged 24.6 fantasy points per game this season, the second-best of 34 qualified NFL QBs (League Avg: 13.7).
• Running back Jerick McKinnon has 11 receptions in the red zone this season, the second-most among NFL RBs.