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Despite the Kansas City Chiefs beating the Buffalo Bills to advance to the AFC Championship, Kansas City’s defense struggled during the Divisional Round shootout.
When all was said and done, the Chiefs had given up 422 total yards, five touchdowns, 6.7 yards per play, and didn’t force the Bills offense into a single turnover. Granted, Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen arguably had the best game of his career against the Chiefs, but it was nevertheless a nerve-wracking performance for Chiefs Kingdom, who want to see their team advance to a third-straight Super Bowl.
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One person, in particular, that took to Twitter to throw shade at Kansas City’s defense during the Chiefs-Bills game was rapper Memphis Bleek.
“Woooooow chiefs defense stinks,” Bleek wrote.
After the game, one Chiefs player and leader took to social media to clap back at the famous rapper.
Mathieu Claps Back at Bleek
Kansas City safety Tyrann Mathieu, who missed most of the Chiefs-Bills game due to a concussion in the first quarter, reacted to Bleek’s negative comments about the Chiefs’ defense.
“His raps stink,” Mathieu commented on a tweet reacting to Bleek’s post.
Mathieu entered concussion protocol following the hit in the Divisional Round Game, but head coach Andy Reid said he was doing well just a day removed from the head injury.
“He’s one of the guys that Rick (Burkholder) is seeing this morning, and our docs,” Reid said during his press conference on Monday, January 24. “So, he’s still in the protocol and he’s still going through it, but he does feel good. So, we’ll just see how that goes going forward.
Mathieu was the lone player that didn’t suit up for Kansas City’s first practice leading up to the AFC Title Game on Wednesday, January 26. However, Reid said that isn’t a reason to be concerned about the Pro Bowl safety.
“So, the only person who didn’t practice today was Tyrann (Mathieu),” Reid said during his press conference on Wednesday after practice. “He’s in the (concussion) protocol. Doing very well, we’ll just see how he does tomorrow. There is a chance if everything works out that he’ll be back.”
Chiefs Face High-Powered Bengals Offense
For those hoping Kansas City already had their toughest defensive task of the postseason, that may not be the case.
In the AFC Championship Game, the Chiefs will face the Cincinnati Bengals, who torched the Chiefs’ defense in early January.
During the Week 17 victory for Cincinnati, second-year quarterback Joe Burrow threw for 446 yards and four touchdowns with a 76% completion percentage and zero turnovers. The biggest beneficiary of Burrow’s massive performance was rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who caught 11 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns.
If Kansas City’s defense wants to prevent that kind of performance from happening during the Conference Championship, they need to consistently collapse the pocket around Burrow. That’s something the Tennessee Titans showed is very possible in the postseason against a weak Bengals offensive line.
During Cincinnati’s 19-16 win over Tennessee in the Divisional Round, the Titans defense sacked Burrow nine times, which tied an NFL postseason record. The constant pressure on the young QB kept the score low and the big plays seldom for a Cincinnati offense that thrives on big plays.
With a front that includes Chris Jones, Frank Clark, and Melvin Ingram, winning one-on-one matchups and pressuring Burrow is something the Chiefs’ defensive line should be able to do. However, if they don’t, and Burrow has ample time in the pocket, we’ve seen what he can do to Kansas City’s defense.
If the latter were to be the case, then the Chiefs will need a Patrick Mahomes performance nearly identical to the one he displayed against the Bills in the Divisional Round. It’s only then that Kansas City could beat the Bengals and advance to the Super Bowl.
