Chiefs rookies step up in a big way on Conference Championship weekend

Chiefs rookies step up in win over Bengals

The game that had everyone’s attention no matter your interests was the Chiefs-Bengals AFC Championship game on Sunday night. Unlike the NFC Championship game, this one did not disappoint.

Entering the game, the Chiefs were 0-3 against Joe Burrow and the Bengals. That and the mid-week banter from the Bengals was enough fuel for the Chiefs to use as even more motivation for winning this contest. That was prevalent from the first snap of the game, especially defensively, as the Chiefs’ defense sacked Burrow four times.

Like most of the games against the Bengals, it looked like Kansas City was going to blow the game open. After going up 13-3, Jaylen Watson intercepted Joe Burrow with a little over two minutes left in the first half. Kansas City’s offense was positioned in Cincinnati’s territory but wasted the opportunity after three straight incomplete passes.

Kansas City also dealt with a plethora of injuries throughout the first half. Willie Gay Jr., Juju Smith-Schuster, Kadarius Toney, L’Jarius Sneed, and Mecole Hardman all left the game with injuries and did not return. With Patrick Mahomes dealing with a high-ankle sprain and Travis Kelce with a back injury, it really looked like the Chiefs were in big trouble.

Heading into the season, it was obvious that this Chiefs’ team was going to be different from others after trading Tyreek Hill. This roster is an extremely young group, and that was obvious in the beginning of the season, but that is expected with rookies. There are going to be growing pains and mistakes made that will be lessons learned for the late-season stretch.

The position group that impressed me the most because of the circumstances was the secondary. After Sneed’s injury, all the cornerbacks were rookies, and they showed up in the biggest game of the season. Picking off Burrow twice, while keeping Cincinnati’s weapons mostly under wraps with the exception of Ja’marr Chase and Tee Higgins making big plays from time to time. But, other than those big plays, the Bengals never really put sustained drives together. This was a complete team performance from the Chiefs.

The Chiefs dominated the game on the line-of-scrimmage defensively, allowing the Chiefs to control the game, holding possession of the ball for 37 minutes, while the Bengals only had the ball for 23 minutes.

In the past, the Chiefs have heavily relied on Mahomes, and that will be the case because of how good the 27-year-old quarterback is, but this defense held things down when the offense struggled in the second half.

Going back to the lessons learned from early-season mistakes, one player that struggled with that in late-game situations was rookie wide receiver Skyy Moore. The former Western Michigan wideout fumbled multiple punts during the season, including two against the Colts, costing the Chiefs a victory in a very winnable contest. Despite those struggles, Kansas City’s coaching staff trusted Moore on the final punt return of the game. Moore took the punt return from the Chiefs’ 20-yard line, and took the punt near midfield, putting the Chiefs’ offense in position to get into field goal range with under a minute remaining. As we all know that is exactly what Mahomes and Kansas City’s offense did.

Mahomes was spectacular in this game with his ankle injury, completing 29 of 43 passes for 326 yards and two touchdowns, but it was so satisfying to see the rookies on defense grow up in the game. Joshua Williams also came up with an interception after Bryan Cook tipped the ball to him on a pass intended for Higgins with the game tied late in the fourth quarter.

This game was great for the defense and rookies on the roster to gain some confidence going into the Super Bowl and into next season. The focus will be on the Super Bowl of course, but next season, Kansas City could have a legit defense with these rookies heading into their second season with an abundance of experience already under their belts.

The Chiefs are perfectly positioned to be dominant for a long time, despite Mahomes being under a massive contract because of the job that Brett Veach has done by bringing in young talent through the draft.