Getty Kansas City Chiefs safety Juan Thornhill celebrates a defensive stop on January 23, 2022.
The AFC could be more challenging than ever in 2022 and few franchises have a tougher schedule than the Kansas City Chiefs — if any.
Of course, that also means there should be plenty of games to look forward to. For Chiefs safety Juan Thornhill, two opponents stand out, and he let each organization know the rivalry is still on.
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Thornhill: ‘I Don’t Like How They Did Us’
During an impromptu interview with Chiefs reporter Aaron Ladd of KSHB41, Thornhill told the reporter that he had two weeks circled in 2022.
“I’m looking forward to every single one of them,” the young safety responded before providing more of an answer. “I got two that I’m really ready for and that might be Buffalo and then the Bengals.”
Thornhill explained his reasoning for each: “Buffalo because I don’t like how they did our defense. They got to put up a lot of numbers, and I didn’t like that. And then with the Bengals, they beat us in the AFC Championship. We got to run that one back.”
Ladd signed off with KSHB41 declaring that Thornhill was “putting the AFC on notice.”
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3 Teams to Beat in the AFC?
The Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals are great choices from Thornhill. It’s certainly possible that these three franchises — Chiefs included — are four of the last teams standing in the AFC when all is said and done.
Not only do each of these organizations flaunt a top-notch roster and coaching staff, but they are also led by three of the best young quarterbacks in the game. Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow could be battling in this conference for years to come — a scary thought for the other 13 teams in the AFC.
KC split with Buffalo last year, losing an early regular-season game before getting revenge in the postseason overtime thriller that forced an NFL rule change. The “grim reaper game” was as epic as they come and the two outings combined produced 136 total points.
The Chiefs attempted that same vengeance on the Bengals after taking a late-season defeat just after New Year’s. Unfortunately, KC was unable to hold on in the AFC championship after leading 21-3.
In the end, Cincy swept the Chiefs in their two meetings and you better believe that left a bad taste in the mouths of returning players. There were 116 points combined between the Chiefs and Bengals last January, and both games came down to a field goal.
As great as these two matchups should be, there were very few wrong answers from Thornhill. This schedule is stacked with headliners — the Super Bowl LV rematch: Mahomes vs. Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Week 1 against the young and hungry Arizona Cardinals, a primetime rematch vs. the Tennesee Titans, a Week 7 matchup in San Francisco, Week 12 in Los Angeles against the defending Super Bowl champion Rams, or just about any of the AFC West grudge matches.
Yep, 2022 should be one to remember for Chiefs Kingdom.