Chad Johnson hoped to see the Bengals dominate the Patriots in the season-opening game. But the Joe Burrow-led team was unable to take down Jacoby Brissett’s offense. However, Ocho was not to be deterred and doubled down on his trust in the Bengals to claim that they could beat the Chiefs.
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On the NightCap show, Shannon Sharpe pointed out that Johnson predicted the Bengals to win and went on to poke fun at the former Bengals wide receiver. Johnson defended himself by claiming that his prediction was based on his emotional connection with the team and was purely speculative. However, he made a surprising prediction:
“We play the Chiefs next week right? I am telling you right now, if you’re a betting man or gambler. Money line. Bengals beat the Chiefs next week. In Arrowhead.”
In 2022, the Bengals had a rocky start after losing 4 games but made a Super Bowl appearance after winning 8 straight games in the second half of the season.
Similarly, last year the team faced back-to-back losses in the first two games but recovered after Week 5 with a 4 game-win streak. However, Burrow’s injury diminished the team’s playoff hopes despite a strong stand by backup QB Jake Browning.
In the last two seasons, Burrow’s Bengals have defeated the Chiefs 3 times, including in their NFC championship win in 2022. The Chiefs only recorded 1 win against the team.
Johnson’s predictions might sound far-fetched based on the team’s performance against the Patriots but Burrow has proved in the past that he can steer the team to face any challenge including Patrick Mahomes. But they will need to learn from their failures to get there.
How the Patriots managed to outsmart the Bengals’ defense
In HC Jerod Mayo’s debut game, running back Stevenson and veteran QB Brissett were able to outsmart the Bengals’ defense to take the Patriots to 10-0 by the end of the first half.
Burrow tried to break the Patriots’ defense but failed to score until the end of the 3rd quarter when Moss rushed the ball into the Patriots’ endzone. However, they weren’t able to break the Patriots defense after that and lost the game 10-16.
The biggest challenge for the Bengals was the offense team’s inability to score despite getting in the Patriots’ red zone. Burrow was back from his injury and covered 164 yards while throwing 21 complete passes but with limited support from Ja’Marr Chase, Moss, and Brown, the team failed to score.
Looking at how the team performed against the Patriots’ ‘caretaker’ QB it is hard to imagine them making a huge impact against Mahomes. However, if Burrow manages to keep his offense in line the team might be able to give a strong challenge to the Chiefs.
