Chiefs vs. Bengals: Game and score predictions

Last week, the Arrowhead Pride staff was split as six contributors picked the Chiefs to win in New England, while the remaining six picked the Patriots to win. The contributor standings should start to shake out even more after last week and we’ll check the standings at the end of the article.

Like every week, let’s check the FanPulse predictions:

FanPulse is a survey of fans across the NFL powered by SurveyMonkey. Each week, we send 32 polls to 100-plus plugged-in fans from each team.

Arrowhead Pride FanPulse predicts the Chiefs to win by 11
Cincy Jungle FanPulse predicts the Chiefs to win by 4

You can sign up for AP FanPulse here to take the weekly survey.

Now let’s get on to the predictions:

Shawn Barber, Chiefs 33-24

This week’s prediction comes via my Pizza Hut store #4742.

Keys to the game

1. Stop the run. With a healthy Joe Mixon in the backfield, we need to make sure to keep him under the 100-yard mark and out of the end zone.

2. Understand the Bengals defense still plays dirty. Remember No. 55’s cheap shot on Anthony Sherman the last time we played.

3. The Chiefs offense will need to show they can value the possession, especially in the red zone and end of the half.

This will be an important game to show how the Chiefs rebound from a loss. Jump out to an early lead and the Bengals will fold. Allow the game to be close and the Red Rifle might have enough firepower (AJ Green and Tyler Boyd) to make it a close game.

Need the 12th man on defense to be loud and rowdy this Sunday Night. The Sea of Red should make the Chiefs pass rush unstoppable.

Aaron Borgmann, Chiefs 38-17

“Tigers don’t change their stripes.”

This Bengals team is perennially underachieving and always looks good at some point in the year then falls off. The Bengals are impressive on the offensive side of ball and we know what the home team can do. The Chiefs defense will attempt to make a statement here with Arrowhead rocking. I actually think this game gets out of hand early and we may see some late-game subs by the Chiefs. The rout will be on as I don’t believe the Bengals are actual contenders. Also, I can’t respect a town that doesn’t put beans in chili and adds chocolate and cinnamon—please kindly leave with your flavored meat sauce.

John Dixon, Chiefs 38-27

The Chiefs and Bengals are much alike, with good-to-very-good offenses and below-average-to-poor defenses when compared to the rest of the league. Head to head, the Chiefs have a better offense than the Bengals, but the Bengals have a better defense than the Chiefs. The Arrowhead fans will get their money’s worth. I’d expect a game with a lot of scoring and plenty of excitement, with the outcome being decided by turnovers. I’d give Patrick Mahomes the edge over Andy Dalton there since Dalton will be playing against a defense amped up by the home crowd.

Matt Lane, Chiefs 38-27

Big game for the Chiefs coming off their first loss of the season, not coming out flat after a primetime loss is going to be a huge deal. The Chiefs played well overall against New England and should have plenty of confidence to go along with a home night game.

When the Bengals have the ball it’s going to be tough sledding, again, for the Chiefs as the Bengals have patch-worked together an offensive line that is effective enough to allow skill players to win. Joe Mixon, when fed, has been an amazing blend of size and speed and will make our struggling linebackers work to not be embarrassed again. Andy Dalton seems to be having a rebound year but it’s helped to have a competent receiving group across the board to help take pressure off of AJ Green. The Chiefs should be able to get pressure on third downs and Dalton will leave some passes out there for defenders to make plays on (#LucasLocomotive).

When the Chiefs have the ball, the biggest concern is the pass rush, specifically Geno Atkins against the backup interior offensive line. Combine that with Carl Lawson’s power and great technique off the edge—usually on the offense’s left—and there is some cause for concern with pressure but Mahomes has shown he can handle it very well. Cincy is a very blitz-heavy team so the Chiefs have to be on their A game in terms of hot routes and utilizing the RPOs to slow down the blitz and pass rushers. The Bengals linebackers are also equally as poor, slow, and get stuck in traffic as the Chiefs and the Bengals are insistent on playing at least two as much as possible. The Chiefs should have no issue moving the ball as long as the pass protection is half-way average despite the Bengal’s very good group of cornerbacks.

Not quite the shootout of last Sunday Night was, but still with plenty of points, the Chiefs find a way to get a few more stops against a less innovative quarterback-head coach combination and win this one by two scores.

Gary McKenzie, Chiefs 45-28

I believe the Chiefs offense is going to pound the Bengals secondary in this game. The Bengals ask their talented cornerbacks to play a lot of man without much help, and I believe the Chiefs weapons on the outside will win the majority of these battles.

I also believe Andy Dalton will have a rough game and the Chiefs will take advantage of some of his miscues. Arrowhead will be electric on Sunday night, and here’s to many more Chiefs games getting flexed to prime time.

Matt Stagner, Chiefs 52-31

For the first time this season, the Chiefs are looking to bounce back from a loss, and start a new win streak. I think this loss was a very positive one, if there is such a thing. They were able to go toe to toe with a contender. This week, they play a talented team, but one that’s clearly (like their quarterback) a tier below the best in the conference. Andy Dalton used to be the dividing line between quarterbacks that can play in this league, and those who can’t. If a quarterback couldn’t be better than Dalton, they weren’t worth a draft pick. If the Chiefs can’t beat the Bengals, they aren’t a serious contender. I think Mahomes and company come back with a vengeance. This is his team, and he won’t let them let up.

Craig Stout, Chiefs 38-21

The Bengals look like a good team on the surface, holding the sixth-ranked scoring offense and boasting defensive stars like Geno Atkins, Carlos Dunlap, Carl Lawson and Jessie Bates. If you scratch a little deeper, you’ll see that outside of a home victory against Baltimore, the Bengals have beaten up on some bad teams while losing to Carolina and Pittsburgh. Andy Dalton in primetime is about the furthest from clutch as he can be, and Arrowhead will be loud for SNF after the first Sunday opening of Joe’s KC in 22 years. The Chiefs defense will hold early, allow the offense to pile up a multi-score lead, and both sides of the ball will take their foot off the gas while they cruise to victory.

Kent Swanson, Chiefs 37-23

The loss to the Patriots showed a lot about Patrick Mahomes. In response to a bad half of football, the second half was as explosive as you can imagine. Confidence throughout the building (on both sides of the ball) is growing.

Nothing will be too big for this team after the early primetime exposure. The comfort will prove beneficial against the Fighting Andy Dalton’s. The defense plays their best game of the season and Mahomes and the offense do their thing from the get-go.

Pete Sweeney, Chiefs 42-28

Just as I thought the New England Patriots were a good team playing poorly heading into last game against the Kansas City Chiefs, I think the opposite this week as the Cincinnati Bengals visit Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night—in my opinion, the Bengals are an average team who had a good start. As noted by our friends at Cinci Jungle, the Bengals struggle with defending against opposing tight ends and running backs—which plays right into the hands of some of the Chiefs best players at the moment—Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill. The Bengals have also allowed at least 21 points in five of six games this season. I think the Chiefs defense will struggle against the likes of AJ Green, Tyler Boyd and Joe Mixon, but not enough to cost the Chiefs another game thanks to MVP favorite Patrick Mahomes.

Joel Thorman, Chiefs 30-18

The Bengals have never won on Sunday Night Football under Marvin Lewis. That shouldn’t change this week. The Chiefs offense is simply too dominant at this point for the Bengals to keep up. Yes, the Chiefs defense is bad but their offense can make up for that in this game. Plus, Andy Dalton in primetime? Woof.

Aly Trost, Chiefs 47-23

Early nerves and mistakes got the best of Patrick Mahomes against the Patriots, however, there is no denying that loss came with not only lessons, but some confidence, too. The Chiefs will capitalize on Bengals injuries, Mahomes will come up big offensively — throwing some video game-like TD passes that will get the Chiefs up early and fast and the defense will do just enough against a solid Bengals offense. Primetime at Arrowhead will give Kansas City the right setting to put any ideas of a losing streak possibility to rest.

Dane Van Why, Chiefs 37-23

The big stage in Foxborough seemed to rattle Patrick Mahomes early last week in the loss to the Patriots. But, the Chiefs offense was able to throw it into high gear late in the game to make for an exciting second half. I look for them to carry that momentum into another Sunday night matchup against the Bengals. With a raucous Arrowhead crowd at their back, I think the defense is able to cage up Andy Dalton and the Bengals offense to save themselves from squandering another game in an offensive shootout. Dalton has already shown his inability to show up in primetime matchups (H/T chiefStats own Gary McKenzie) and I expect that to continue Sunday night.

Here are the staff standings:

Congrats to Shawn Barber and Matt Stagner taking the top spot. It’s pretty impressive they’ve picked each game correctly, especially with tough games to call in Pittsburgh and New England.

All 12 contributors picked the Chiefs to beat the Bengals on Sunday night, and hopefully, all 12 contributors are right.