KISS, Rush (mostly) Four, and Avoid Mistakes: How the Chiefs can beat the Bengals

Looking at some lessons the Chiefs should have learned from their Week 17 loss to Cincinnati

I don’t know if you heard, but the Bengals beat the Chiefs the last time they two teams faced off.

I’ll give you a moment to recover from your shock, given that said game took place (checks notes) a little over three weeks ago, in Week 17. But it is indeed true. Cincinnati won a wild contest that ended with a 31-34 score, approximately a billion yards for Ja’Marr Chase, and a lot of very angry Chiefs fans.

So much has happened since then that it’s easy to forget now, but that game was a WILD affair. I won’t revisit every second of it, but the cliffnotes are as follows: The Chiefs led for most of the game but missed out on several opportunities to put it away, Chase turned into a vortex of big plays, and the Bengals were able to win with a last-second field goal on a drive that featured plenty of drama on the goal line.

After said loss, one that cost the Chiefs the Number 1 seed in the AFC (turns out it didn’t matter and they’re still hosting the AFC Championship for the fourth year in a row), I wrote a pair of articles detailing how the Chiefs cost themselves a great opportunity. The first focused on their stubbornness with both personnel and strategy. The second focused on unforced errors of execution and tactical mistakes.

Now, just a few weeks later, Kansas City has a twofold opportunity in front of it. First, to demonstrate that their loss to Cincinnati was a fluke and not reflective of each team’s ability (maybe, maybe not. Burrow and company have looked solid in the playoffs). Second, and more importantly for their chances to achieve their ultimate goal, they can show that they learned from their mistakes that day.

So let’s talk about the AFC Championship, and what the Chiefs can do to ensure they get a shot at the Lombardi Trophy for the 3rd year in a row. It all comes down to the simple premise of KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid.