Chiefs vs. Bengals 2021: game time, TV schedule and how to watch live online

The Game

In Week 17, the Kansas City Chiefs visit Paul Brown Stadium to face the Cincinnati Bengals. Kickoff is scheduled for Sunday at Noon (Arrowhead Time). The game will be carried by CBS — locally on KCTV/5.

With two games remaining in the regular season, the defending AFC champions enter this game with an 11-4 record, good enough to clinch their sixth consecutive AFC West championship. With two wins to close the season — or at least one win (or tie) combined with at least one loss by the Tennessee Titans, or at least one win combined with at least one Titans loss or tie — the Chiefs with clinch a postseason bye for the fourth straight year.

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Currently leading the AFC North with a 9-6 record, the Bengals can clinch a division title with a victory against the Chiefs. Even a tie with Kansas City would be enough — as long as it is combined with a loss or tie by the Baltimore Ravens.

After beginning the season with a 3-4 record, the Chiefs are seeking their ninth consecutive win. Since the winning streak began in Week 8, Kansas City’s defense has been spectacular — allowing just 325 yards and 12.9 points per game, while collecting a total of 21 turnovers. After seven weeks, the Chiefs’ defense was among the league’s worst. While they are still 21st in yards allowed, they now rank fifth in points allowed.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City offense — led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes — has also turned a corner. While it’s largely remained effective in gaining yards and scoring points throughout the season, it gave up 17 turnovers during the team’s first seven games — several of them that led directly to losses. But during the winning streak, the team has given up the ball only eight times.

And Mahomes — who has accumulated six of the eight worst games of his career during 2021 — has once again become a hot hand, having just been named the AFC’s offensive player of the month for a December in which he completed 89 of 130 passes for 1,110 yards, eight passing touchdowns (along with a rushing touchdown) and just two interceptions for a passer rating of 108.8.

Facing the Chiefs will be a Cincinnati team that has averaged 27.3 points per game — ranked seventh in the NFL — behind second-year quarterback Joe Burrow. The first player selected in the 2020 NFL Draft has taken a step forward in 2021, completing 336 of 481 passes for 4,165 yards and 30 touchdowns; his passer rating of 105.0 is second only to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Tom Brady. But he leads the league in two troubling categories: interceptions (14) and sacks (42). Still, he passed for 525 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in Cincinnati’s 41-21 victory over the Ravens in Week 16.

Nuts and bolts

• Location: Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Playing surface: Artificial turf
• Game time: Noon Arrowhead Time, Sunday, January 2, 2022
• Weather forecast: Cloudy and 34, 16% chance of rain, winds NNW at 16 mph
• Matchup history: 15-14 Bengals (regular season)
• Odds: Chiefs -4.5, per DraftKings Sportsbook
• Officials: Referee John Hussey (35), umpire Alan Eck (76), down judge Sarah Thomas (53), line judge Carl Johnson (101), field judge Jabir Walker (26), side judge Allen Baynes (56), back judge Brad Freeman (88), replay official Jamie Nicholson and replay assistant Denise Crudup.
• Television broadcast: with Jim Nantz, Tony Romo and Tracy Wolfson on KCTV (CBS/5-Kansas City), Chiefs Mobile App, WKRC (CBS/12-Cincinnati) and CBS affiliates nationwide — see coverage map
• Online Stream: Fubo.TV, Paramount+
• Chiefs radio broadcast: with Mitch Holthus, Danan Hughes and Josh Klingler on WDAF (106.5 FM-Kansas City) and Chiefs Radio Network affiliates
• SiriusXM broadcast: Channel 380
• Chiefs Spanish radio broadcast: with Enrique Morales, Oscar Monterroso and Hannah Bassham on KPRS (103.3 FM-Kansas City)
• Bengals radio broadcast: with Dan Hoard and Dave Lapham on WEBN (FM 102.7-Cincinnati), WLW (AM 700-Cincinnati), WCKY (AM 1530-Cincinnati) and Bengals Radio Network affiliates
• Enemy SB Nation site: Cincy Jungle
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