Before you make your picks for this week...I thought you MIGHT want to look at some of the comparisons.....
And the Bengals think that the ONLY way KC can win is if they sit their starters.....
THE MATCH-UP
Kansas City hosts Cincinnati at Arrowhead in a season-ending contest full of consequences for both squads. The Chiefs still have postseason aspirations, but need a victory vs. the Bengals, a win/tie by Denver at San Diego (12/31) AND a win by Detroit at Pittsburgh (1/1). KC is also seeking to finish the year at 10-6 which would give the club a double-digit victory total for the 14th time in franchise history.
The Bengals have already clinched the AFC North title, marking their first postseason berth since ‘90. Cincinnati is seeking to enter the playoffs on a winning note and can lock up the number three seed with a victory OR a New England loss. The Bengals will host the initial playoff contest at Paul Brown Stadium on Wild Card weekend.
Sunday’s contest marks the first-ever New Year’s Day game in Arrowhead history and falls on the 39th anniversary of one of the most significant dates in Chiefs history. Kansas City’s only previous New Year’s Day contest of any kind was the ‘66 AFL Championship Game played at Buffalo’s War Memorial Stadium (1/1/67). The Chiefs throttled the Bills by a 31-7 margin and advanced to face Vince Lombardi’s Packers in Super Bowl I. January 1, 1967 also holds special significance in Chiefs history as the birthdate of the late nine-time Pro Bowl LB Derrick Thomas, who was born in Miami, Florida on that day.
The Bengals will appear at Arrowhead for the first time since ‘93, the second-longest current stretch of any NFL team without an appearance in Kansas City. Tampa Bay hasn’t visited Arrowhead in the regular season since ‘86. Cincinnati won its last meeting with KC, halting the Chiefs nine-game winning streak to open the 2003 season.
The Chiefs are coming off a 20-7 win vs. San Diego (12/24). Cincinnati enters this week’s contest after a 37-27 home loss vs. Buffalo (12/24). A pair of notable individual records are within the grasp of RB Larry Johnson and TE Tony Gonzalez this week. Johnson needs just 67 rushing yards to break the Chiefs single-season rushing record, while Gonzalez needs one more reception to give him sole possession of the longest receiving streak in team annals at 84 straight games.
2005 NFL Stats and Rankings
............................................Chiefs ..............Bengals
Total Offense........................ 377.0 (2) 371.3 (6)
Rush Offense........................ 145.3 (4) 124.9 (5)
Pass Offense..........................231.7 (7) 246.4 (10)
Total Defense....................... 339.2 (28) 325.5 (15)
Rush Defense........................ 102.2 (9) 109.9 (1)
Pass Defense..........................237.0 (30) 215.6 (28)
Turnover Ratio........................+7 +25
Pts./Game..............................24.4 27.9
Opp. Pts /Game......................21.5 20.9
THE SERIES
Kansas City owns an 11-10 (.524) advantage in regular season play against Cincinnati. However, the Bengals won the most recent meeting between the two teams by a 24-19 count at Paul Brown Stadium (11/16/03), snapping a nine-game Kansas City victory streak. KC claimed wins in four of the first five games in the all-time series between the two squads beginning in ‘68 when the expansion Bengals entered the AFL. The Chiefs haven’t lost back-to-back games against the Bengals since Cincinnati then rattled off five consecutive victories from ‘72-77. The two teams have never squared off in the postseason.
The Bengals are making their first trip to Kansas City since ‘93, marking the longest current stretch any AFC club has gone without playing at Arrowhead. Baltimore is the only current NFL team yet to visit Kansas City in the regular season. The Chiefs are 6-5 all-time at home against Cincinnati, including a 4-5 mark at Arrowhead. The Bengals last win in KC was a 21-17 decision (10/1/89).
Kansas City has won two of the last three Chiefs-Bengals encounters at Arrowhead, including a 17-15 win (10/10/93) in the most recent contest. The only current member of the Chiefs squad on the field that day was 11-time Pro Bowl G Will Shields, who was making just his fourth NFL start. Perhaps the most significant game in the Chiefs-Bengals series came in ‘69. With starting QB Len Dawson already hurt, back-up QB Jacky Lee was injured vs. the Bengals, pressing third-stringer Mike Livingston into service. Although KC lost 24-19 at Cincinnati (9/28/69), Livingston rallied the club for wins in his next five starts during KC’s storied Super Bowl IV season.
Chiefs vs Bengals
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