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Well, it didn’t take long for the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals rivalry to kick back up again in 2023.
After the Chiefs got some revenge on Cincy last winter during the AFC championship game, the Bengals targeted KC left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. in free agency and apparently, his new teammates feel like that acquisition is a major win for them over their recent conference rival.
“I mean, I loved it,” Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd told reporters on May 30, regarding the Brown signing. “You know, because we have a nice little rivalry with the Chiefs and seeing him come over, it’s like — yeah, we one-upped y’all.”
Boyd did walk back the early bit of smack talk, adding: “At the end of the day, [Brown’s] a great player… We’re here to win, he’s probably one of the best at his position. Adding him to what we got already, it’s going to allow Joey [Burrow] to have more time and it’s going to give us the will to put up those points so I’m just happy to have him.”
Fox 19’s Joe Danneman shared the video clip on Twitter, which has since gone viral on social media with over 1.1K likes and 450K views.
Chiefs Counterpunch Bengals After Joe Burrow’s Run of Dominance
There’s no doubt about it, Burrow’s Bengals had the Chiefs number up until January 29, 2023. Patrick Mahomes II even admitted many times that it’s not a rivalry unless both teams trade some wins and after KC’s most recent Super Bowl run over the new-look Bengals, it’s officially on in the AFC next year.
Sure, Burrow is still 3-1 versus Mahomes, but the latter did blow out Andy Dalton’s Bengals in 2018 and Kansas City’s general prestige pretty much evens this thing up heading into another season. The question is, will the Brown addition help Cincinnati and hurt KC as players and analysts seem to think it will?
USA Today Chiefs Wire reporter Charles Goldman commented on Danneman’s video clip after catching wind of it.
“The whole discourse over Orlando Brown Jr. is weird,” Goldman wrote. “The people expecting Patrick Mahomes to talk bad on a former teammate and friend. Now this? Like, does Tyler Boyd know how the franchise tag works? The Chiefs let the dude walk – and for a reason.”
It’s true, KC general manager Brett Veach allowed Brown to go much more than he lost him to Cincinnati in free agency. They didn’t see the former Baltimore Ravens right tackle as a true blindside blocker and ended up paying a more willing and versatile RT in Jawaan Taylor instead.
After that, Veach shored up the blindside with veteran Donovan Smith.
We’ll see how it all shakes out in 2023, but at the moment, one could argue that the Chiefs offensive line is sturdier with Taylor and Smith than it was with Brown and Andrew Wylie last season. In other words, Brown’s departure might help the Bengals but it’s unclear if it’ll hurt KC or have any impact whatsoever.
Chiefs Kingdom Reacts to Tyler Boyd Comments on Orlando Brown Jr. to the Bengals
Goldman wasn’t the only member of Chiefs Kingdom to react to this story publicly.
“Just stop,” Rocky Magaña of Arrowhead Pride replied. “In 2022. Per PFF- Orlando Brown Jr. Allowed— 58 pressures (most in NFL), 44 hurries (most in NFL), 10 hits (4th most in NFL), 96.3 PB EFF (39th highest in NFL). He is very mediocre at best.”
A fan echoed Magaña, questioning: “What do people see that chiefs fans aren’t seeing? PFF gave OBJ a 75.8 PFF grade that was Tied for 38th in the tackle category, Jawaan Taylor had a 75.9 grade last year…… PFF has him projected to finish #58 this year in terms of all offensive lineman. He’s not good.”
“One Upped the Super Bowl Champs ????” Another fan trolled. “Bengals should’ve gotten Jerick McKinnon too because buddy was carrying Orlando throughout the season.”
Finally, one fan responded: “We two-upped y’all😁😁.” Included was a photoshopped image of Mahomes holding both of his two Lombardi Trophies at the same time.
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