The Cincinnati Bengals will continue their historical playoff run against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship. Led by quarterback Joe Burrow, the Bengals earned their first playoff victory in 31 years in their Wild Card Weekend matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders. Once again, they defied the odds in the AFC Divisional Round and defeated the first seed Tennessee Titans.
Burrow, the Bengals' second-year franchise quarterback, holds the weight of Who Dey Nation on his shoulders. He played in multiple high-risk, high-reward games during his career at LSU, but nothing bigger than this. Here are my top four predictions for the history-making quarterback in his first-ever AFC Championship Game.
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Bengals QB Joe Burrow AFC Championship Predictions
4. Lots of pressure
In last weekend's AFC Divisional Game between the Bengals and the Titans, Burrow was sacked a whopping nine times. He tied the record for the most quarterback sacks in a playoff game set by Houston Oilers' quarterback Warren Moon in the 1994 AFC Divisional Game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Bengals' offensive line struggled to defend their quarterback only a week ago. That being said, there wasn't much time for Cincinnati to come up with a brand new way to run their OL. They undoubtedly got a few kinks out during practice this week, but expect at least five sacks on Burrow Sunday afternoon.
3. “Near perfect” performance
Burrow spoke to the media the Friday before the AFC Championship Game. One reporter asked him what he would need to do to help his team advance to the Super Bowl. Burrow said that he had to be “near perfect” Sunday afternoon.
He also told reporters that he doesn't usually feel nervous the day of big games. Burrow's confidence, awareness of his role, and ability to perform under pressure will come up clutch for him on Sunday. Expect minimal errors in Burrow's passing game and zero interceptions.
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2. Another huge passing game
Unlike many other young quarterbacks, Burrow doesn't come out of the backfield very often. He is much more comfortable throwing dimes to Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. In the regular season and the playoffs, he recorded three games with at least 400 passing yards and seven games with at least 300 passing yards.
Burrow will throw for at least 350 yards and two passing touchdowns Sunday afternoon. Expect Chase and Higgins to be his main targets with close-to-equal reception opportunities.
For more insight on the Bengals' AFC Championship matchup against the Chiefs, listen below:
1. Continued success
Finally, expect Burrow and the Bengals to pull off the upset win at Arrowhead Stadium. They are feeding off of the underdog momentum, and it will only grow stronger as their win probability decreases. Burrow, Mixon, and Chase will finally get their AFC Championship cigars they've been waiting two weeks to light.
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