The Bengals Need To Lose Themselves Against Kansas City
Kareem Elgazzar / Imagn Images
LOSE YOURSELVES … OR LOSE YOURSELVES
Why the Bengals Week 2 matchup vs. the Kansas City Chiefs is their most pivotal game of the 2024 regular season
Julian Bane / The Noise
Week 1 of the NFL season has officially come and gone. We saw some much hyped debuts (Caleb Williams), stinging injuries (poor Jordan Love), a touchdown ruined by a toe, and Tyreek Hill in a situation highlighting the ongoing strife between African Americans and the police.
Cincinnati Bengals fans also saw something that, for the entirety of Zac Taylor’s tenure as the team’s head coach, has become all too familiar: An opening week loss against an opponent nearly every pundit would have said prior to the actual game had no chance to defeat the men in orange and black.
Now, in words inspired by the Patriots former head coach, “We’re on to Kansas City” … And for a Bengals team desperate to avoid an 0-2 start, the time has come to channel their inner Eminem and lose themselves in the moment – or possibly lose themselves for the remainder of the 2024 season.
Let me explain.
The darling of advertisers and Taylor Swift fans everywhere, the Kansas City Chiefs have become the most hated team in the NFL through no fault of their own. Why? Because they, like the aforementioned Patriots, the Dallas Cowboys of the 90s and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s, currently have what every other fanbase wants: Championships – and the ability, talent and poise to win another one. To quote Bronx, New York-based hip-hop impresario Joseph Cartagena a.k.a. Fat Joe, “jealous ones envy.”
The Chiefs seemingly have it all. They have the franchise quarterback. They have the media darlings. They have the loveable old head coach. They have the historic venue with the loud fan base. They have a beast of a defensive tackle in Chris Jones. And their one supposed weakness at wide receiver? It’s only been one week, but anyone who saw Xavier Worthy’s performance against the Ravens knows that likely wasn’t a fluke.
The one team that has given the Chiefs in recent memory? The Bengals, the exact same team they face this Sunday.
For Kansas City, the team will no doubt be prepared and likely approach it in a straightforward manner. The Bengals will, at least in the media, likely present in the exact same fashion, saying that while they know the emphasis fans and the media will place on the matchup, it’s just business as usual. But here’s the thing – for the Bengals to pull off the upset and right the course of their season, they cannot approach it like just another game. They cannot approach it like business as usual. They need to, no, must, approach it in the manner that no team dare speaks of, never saying the two words that this game has the potential to be in terms of their identity and the rest of the 2024 season: This must be approached as Cincinnati’s “Statement game.” For in defeating the Chiefs in Kansas City coming off that loss to New England, the Bengals have a chance to make the statement: Not only was last week a fluke, and these early season struggles overblown, but we are for real, we want to be the team everyone envies and the road to New Orleans goes through us.
These are the reasons the Bengals need to do to what they should have done to the Patriots – and more. The Bengals’ play calling against New England looked formulaic. Against Kansas City? There is a need to throw the kitchen sink in the mix to the point Chiefs fans yelling like a frustrated “Madden” player.
Yes, 2024 first and second round picks Amarius Mims and Kris Jenkins did not play in Week 1. If they are ready to go in Week 2, it’s a case of them needing to show up and show out. Andre Iosivas, Trent Irwin and Charlie Jones? Time to be critical role players, just like the five headed monster that is the Bengals active tight end unit.
To his credit, Ja’Marr Chase answered media questions after Week 1 after making sure they did not ask about his contract status. But if there was ever a game to show why the contracts Brandon Aiyuk, Justin Jefferson, and CeeDee Lamb signed should be chump change (relatively speaking) compared to the one he deserves, it’s now. And Joe Burrow? To avoid being this generation’s Dan Marino by reaching the Super Bowl in his second season and never getting back, he needs to, for lack of a better term, go nuts.
Cincinnati’s 1-10 record in the first two weeks of the season ay look to be headed to 1-11. However, if the Bengals play like this is one of the biggest regular season opportunities in their history, Sunday could a statement game that changes the path of the franchise. After all, history is written by the winners – and this Sunday, the Bengals have a chance to lose themselves in the moment and write the next chapter of theirs.
Up Next