Cincinnati Bengals vs Kansas City Chiefs 2023 Week 17 Preview and Prediction

By Jalen Willingham

The Cincinnati Bengals will travel to Arrowhead to play the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 17 of the 2023 NFL Season. Since 2021, the Bengals are 3-1 vs the Chiefs.

When: Sunday December 31, 2023 at 4:25pm

Where: GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri

Network: CBS

Offense

Jake Browning finally played exactly like a backup quarterback. Three terrible interceptions makes any game hard to win offensively. The decision making has to be better in every way. A Chiefs defense who just held the Raiders to 62 yards passing will not make it easy. Receiver Ja’Marr Chase will be back and with how he’s been talking, expect him to get as many targets as possible. Both Chase and Tee Higgins will be relied on a lot but the Chiefs secondary will be ready.

Protecting the quarterback will also be big here. Kansas City has 48 sacks in 2023 with George Karlaftis and Chris Jones leading the charge. Offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. is facing his old team. He will be fired up and things could also get heated between him and his former teammates too.

When having a defense as bad as what the Bengals have right now, the offense needs to make every trip to the red zone count. They can’t afford the costly turnovers they had last week. Don’t forget about Joe Mixon in this game. He will get a ton of touches inside the red zone. As far as moving the ball offensively, a balanced offense and not getting behind by a lot is what will be key.

Defense

The Bengals defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed right now. Cincinnati was lit up by Mason Rudolph and Nick Mullens in back to back weeks. That must change fast if they want any chance at stopping Patrick Mahomes.

Even with the Chiefs offense being the worst it’s been in years, Mahomes can still make things happen. The Bengals have allowed the fifth most passing yards this season as well. Tight ends have also feasted on them all year so Travis Kelce could have a nice day. Receiver Kadarius Toney will be out though. Some people will say that that’s a plus for the Chiefs depending on who you ask.

Even with the Chiefs receiver room at a new low, don’t expect Cincinnati to have an easy task on Sunday. At least cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt finally returns for the Bengals.

Kansas City’s offense is a mess all-around but one major weakness however has actually been in the deep ball. On deep passing attempts, Mahomes has thrown just one touchdown along with 6 interceptions which is tied for second in the league. He also ranks first with 10 turnover worthy plays and had thrown interceptions in four straight games as well. There will be opportunities for the Bengals to take the ball away to keep the game close. They need to take advantage of it every time.

Creating pressure never goes wrong. Mahomes was sacked four times last week and hit 10. Unfortunately, no-one outside of Trey Hendrickson is getting to the quarterback consistently here. Left tackle Donovan Smith will be out though. I think we may see someone else step up in this game besides Hendrickson who has 16 sacks on the year.