While they aren't yet on the level of other historic postseason rivalries, the Bengals-Chiefs rivalry continues to gain traction ahead of Sunday's AFC title game rematch.
The two teams have engaged in lively banter in the days leading up to Sunday's game. It apparently started when Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton renamed the Chiefs' home field to "Burrowhead," a quip that didn't sit well with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Kansas City linebacker Willie Gay recently upped the ante when asked if there was anything that impressed him about the Bengals offense.
"Nothing," Gay said, via Cleveland.com. "Nothing."
Gay was a little more technical when asked what he can do to in order to help the Chiefs snap their three-game losing streak against the Bengals.
"Stop the run, for sure," said Gay, who had five tackles and one pass defended in the Chiefs' Week 13 loss to the Bengals. "You know they going to try to do that, to act like they can big boy us. But front six, seven going to definitely do our job and try to slow that down."
Gay may not have been told what happened the last time someone threw public shade at the Bengals. Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback of all time, riled up the Bengals defense after he called them a "fairly tough" unit ahead of their Week 15 showdown. While he threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns, Brady and the Buccaneers offense was held to just one score in the second half of Cincinnati's 34-23 win.
Sunday will mark the ninth conference title game rematch since the 1970 merger. Two notable rematches from years past include the Steelers-Raiders in the 1970s and the Cowboys-49ers in the 1990s. There was no love lost in those matchups, and it appears that the Bengals and Chiefs are on their way to possibly joining them as an all-time postseason rivalry.
