Cincinnati Bengals Observations From Close Loss to the Kansas City Chiefs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Cincinnati Bengals tried to bounce back in a big way, but they had to do it in one of hardest places and came up short, falling 26-25 to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium today.

Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs took over with 2:35 remaining at their own 25-yard line and drove to the Cincinnati 33 for Harrison Butker’s game-winning 51-yard field goal, aided by a pass interference penalty on rookie Daijahn Anthony on fourth-and-16.

The loss drops the Bengals to 0-2 for the third year in a row, and it marks their third consecutive loss to the Chiefs.

Here are some quick observations from the game:

Burrow Bombs Away

The one thing everyone has been waiting to see from Burrow finally arrived on the team’s first play of the second half when he unleashed a 47-yard bomb to rookie Jermaine Burton.

Alien invasion 👽

47-yds from @JoeyB to @NASAMAINE3!!

📺: #CINvsKC on CBS/@paramountplus pic.twitter.com/Hyai46JIzO

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 15, 2024

Burrow spent a lot of time this week and in last Sunday’s postgame press conference answering questions about his surgically repaired right wrist. He downplayed any notion he was limited in any way by it after throwing only six passes further than 10 yards down the field in the loss to the Patriots.

The 47-yard deep ball hit Burton in stride for the receiver’s first NFL reception. And it came one play after the Chiefs had taken their first lead of the game when Mahomes drove them down the field on the first possession of the second half and hit tackle-eligible Wanya Morris for a 1-yard TD.

Not only was it a huge answer, the play set up Burrow’s second touchdown pass of the game to Andrei Iosivas, this one coming on fourth and goal from the 3-yard line to give the Bengals a 22-17 lead.

Inexcusable Blowup

Ja’Marr Chase drew a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct after yelling at referee Alex Kemp following a second-down reception in the fourth quarter.

Instead of third-and-7, the Bengals faced third and 22 after the penalty, which knocked them out of field goal range.

Zac Taylor having a chat with Ja'Marr Chase pic.twitter.com/AVuDOZnCYT

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 15, 2024

Burrow and Evan McPherson saved Chase. Burrow hit Mike Gesicki for a 10-yard gain to the 35-yard line, and McPherson drilled a 53-yard field goal to give the Bengals a 25-23 lead with 9:28 remaining.

Chase appeared to be upset there wasn’t a facemask call against Trent McDuffie on the second-down reception of 4 yards.

Kemp didn’t immediately throw the flag, but Chase kept going at him and basically forced him to call the 15-yard penalty.

Wild Turnover Swing

After taking some shots at Chiefs rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy earlier the week, Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt came up with one of the biggest plays of the game when he intercepted a Mahomes pass intended for Worthy on the final play of the third quarter.

.@CamTaylorBritt_ AKA JUICE 🧃🧃🤯

📺: #CINvsKC ON CBS/@paramountplus pic.twitter.com/0meOdZRnPA

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 15, 2024

It came just two plays after a DJ Turner II interception was wiped out on an illegal contact penalty against Travis Kelce.

But as the Bengals were trying to cover Kansas City’s third turnover into a two-score lead, Burrow fumbled on a third-down scramble, and cornerback Chamarri Conner scooped up the ball and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown 20 seconds into the fourth quarter.

The play gave the Chiefs a 23-22 lead, which is where it stayed after Kansas City failed to covert the two-point conversion.

The Bengals had a 3-0 edge in turnover margin until Burrow’s fumble. They were -2 in the loss last week against the Patriots.

Tight End Time

We saw the increased tight end usage last week when the Bengals ran 12 personnel on 25% of their snaps, the third most in the Zac Taylor era.

Sunday, it looked different. The tight ends weren’t just in blocking roles, they were Burrow’s leading targets IN THE FIRST HALF.

Mike Gesicki’s 37-yard catch and run on fourth-and-3 extended the opening drive and set the tone.

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By halftime, Bengals tight ends had nine catches for 113 yards, surpassing the position’s highest single-game total since Burrow arrived.

The opening drive featured rookie Erick All lining up in the backfield as a fullback, out wide, and inline.

On one play, the Bengals were in 13 personnel with three tight ends on the field.

Burrow’s previous high for tight-end yardage in a single game was 101 in last year’s 24-18 win against Baltimore.

Bridging the Gap

Bengals linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither recorded the second interception of his career and first since the season finale in 2020 as a rookie.

After the Chiefs opened the game with a long 16-play drive and Burrow and the offense followed with a three-and-out, Cincinnati defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo put a bunch of backups on the field to start the second drive.

Davis-Gaither was one of them. He dropped into coverage underneath Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Mahomes never saw Davis-Gaither and threw the ball right to him.

Akeem Davis-Gaither picks off Patrick Mahomes, dots!@NextGenStats pic.twitter.com/WJkYZtNlQn

— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) September 15, 2024

The Bengals converted the short field into a seven-play, 31-yard touchdown drive and a 10-3 lead.

Hendrickson Gets Home … Finally

Trey Hendrickson had a frustrating season opener with six pressures and no sacks, and he was breathing on Mahomes’ neck several times in the first half before finally getting to him on a second-and-8 play late in the second quarter.

It set up a third-and-19, and the Chiefs ended up punting.

Not only was the timing of the sack clutch, but a timing issue set it up.

After Mahomes threw a 2-yard pass to Isaiah Pacheco, the officials initially ruled him out of bounds. A replay review showed Pacheco was down in bounds, forcing a 10-second runoff as Kansas City was trying to drive in the final minute of the half.

Hendrickson added a second sack in the fourth quarter to set up third and 10 with Kansas City in its own territory, then drew a holding penalty on the next play, setting up third and 20.

Hendrickson also drew an illegal hands to the face penalty on a fourth-and-6 conversion in the final minute.

D-Line Decimation

The Bengals came into the game short at defensive tackle, with third-round rookie McKinnley Jackson on injured reserve and second-round rookie Kris Jenkins working his way back from thumb surgery last week.

The Bengals lost veteran B.J. Hill to a hamstring injury in the first half, and veteran free agent signing Sheldon Rankins went down on Kansas City’s opening drive of the second half.

Rankins returned to the game, keeping the Bengals with three active defensive tackles, joining Zach Carter and Jay Tufele.

But Rankins went down again with 7:59 left in the game and was ruled out with a hamstring injury.