Four Takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs’ 26-25 Win Over the Cincinnati Bengals

Another Kansas City Chiefs outing against the Cincinnati Bengals, another instant classic matchup between two of the NFL’s best quarterbacks.

In the latest installment of Kansas City versus Cincinnati, it was the home team that came away with a victory. After a back-and-forth battle and some late-game dramatics, the Chiefs pulled through and kicker Harrison Butker drained a game-winning field goal to bring his team to 2-0 on the year.

With that in mind, here are four takeaways from Sunday’s game.

A slow start and some questionable decisions limited the Chiefs’ offense early
Things took a while to get going for Kansas City on Sunday, as the team got outgained by an average of 2.2 yards per play. Posting 4.3 yards per clip and 3.5 yards per pass, Andy Reid and company committed to running the football and took a lot of time on its opening possession. Near the end zone, halfback Isiah Pacheco was stopped three times and Reid opted against going back to Carson Steele. Choosing a field goal over a touchdown attempt on fourth down was a poor decision.

Speaking of poor decisions, the Chiefs’ second drive lasted just one play. Mahomes locked on to targeting tight end Travis Kelce, ultimately being intercepted by linebacker Akiem Davis-Gaither. That set the Bengals up for their first touchdown of the game. Mahomes and Kansas City bounced back with a score on their next possession, but a slow start made things difficult in half No. 1.

Kansas City took advantage of Cincinnati’s bad run defense
In the Bengals’ Week 1 loss to the New England Patriots, running back Rhamondre Stevenson toted the ball 25 times for 120 yards and a touchdown. A lot of that production was after contact, further highlighting how poor of a defensive effort Cincinnati had. Coming into this weekend’s game, Zack Eisen of Kansas City Chiefs On SI pondered whether committing to the run and a steady diet of Pacheco could achieve some success in Week 2. It certainly did.