The same two teams have faced each other in the AFC Championship game in each of the past two years. In 2022, the Cincinnati Bengals shocked the Kansas City Chiefs to earn a Super Bowl berth, and last year the Chiefs were able to get a measure of revenge en route to lifting the Lombardi Trophy.
When it comes to guys like Josh Allen and Justin Herbert, the Bengals and Chiefs have the NFL’s two best quarterbacks in Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes. While most people — including Burrow — would say Mahomes is the better of the two players and is therefore the NFL’s best player, Cincinnati wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase disagrees. He recently declared that Burrow was the best player in the league, and when told that Burrow believed the title belonged to “Pat”, all Chase could answer was “Pat Who?”
It’s a fun dig, because the implication here is that Burrow really likes Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth or something, but unsurprisingly Mahomes had something to say about it. The Chiefs got their championship rings on Thursday night, and Mahomes took the opportunity to let Chase know who his QB meant.
We’ll have to wait and see if Burrow and Mahomes will fight each other again in the playoffs, but one thing is guaranteed: the two will square off at Arrowhead Stadium on New Year’s Eve this season.