KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ As expected when head coach Zac Taylor released his inactive list for Sunday's game against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, wide receiver Tee Higgins (hamstring) will miss his second straight game.
Tight end Tanner Hudson (knee) who missed practice Wednesday and Friday, is active but it wasn't clear how much he'll play.
So the inactive list is the same as it was last week for the opener. Right tackle Amarius Mims (pectoral) was limited all week, and defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Jr. (thumb) had surgery a week ago Friday. Rookie tight end Tanner McLachlan and rookie defensive end Cedric Johnson appear to be healthy scratches.
JOE-PAT AGAIN
This is one of those NFL games where the quarterbacks actually match the hype in Sunday's showdown between the Bengals' Joe Burrow and the Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes.
With a win, Burrow can become the only quarterback to beat the two-time Super Bowl MVP four times. With a win, Mahomes ties Tom Brady and Pro Football Hall of Famer Roger Staubach for the most wins ever by a quarterback in his first 100 career starts with 76.
But when Burrow met the press last week, Sunday and Mahomes were nowhere near his thoughts.
"Sunday comes when Sunday comes," Burrow said. "I am focused on learning from the practice today. Coming out and having a good day tomorrow and going from there. You stack practices together you are going to go out and play continually better on Sundays. That is what I'm focused on right now."
Burrow had a slow start in 2022 when he threw four interceptions in the opener and bounced back to set a career-high with 35 touchdown passes in his second 4,000-yard season.
Burrow admitted to feeling his way around in the pocket when he stepped on the field for the first time in nearly a year last Sunday.
"That is always tough when you are coming back from injury and haven't played in a while," Burrow said. "I wasn't quite sure how I was going to feel. That's part of it. Week 1, nobody is panicking. Sat up here and said that before. Unfortunately, we are in the same spot after Week 1, but we got another opportunity on Sunday and 15 more opportunities after that to go and get better and show what we are all about."
If he does what he did in '22, Burrow would join Mahomes with 30 touchdown passes and 4,000 yards in three of his first five seasons. Josh Allen and Dan Marino are the only other ones who have done it.
MIRROR MEN
The Bengals and Chiefs secondaries are a mirror of each other when it comes to drafting and developing.
After the Chiefs allowed Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase a rookie-record 266 yards and then 103 more to Higgins a month later in the 2021 AFC title game, they began and ended the next draft by selecting cornerback Trent McDuffie in the first round and cornerback Jaylen Watson in the seventh round. Now they're Sunday's starters. So is safety Bryan Cook, a second-round pick in that draft.
The Bengals have also stayed young. They, too, took their Sunday starting cornerbacks in the 2022 draft, Dax Hill in the first round and Cam Taylor-Britt in the second. Hill was drafted as a safety, but the Bengals doubled down on the corner the next season when they took DJ Turner in the second round and he's their first cornerback off the bench.
Over this offseason, both teams lost their No. 1 cornerbacks in that '21 championship game when new Titans head coach and old friend Brian Callahan grabbed both the Bengals' Chidobe Awuzie and the Chiefs' L'Jarius Sneed in free agency. Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and his opposite number in Kansas City, Steve Spagnuolo, are banking on development.
"I just think we're all in that mindset these days. You know you're paying particular players, and you're going to get some younger guys, and we have to develop," Anarumo said earlier this week. "They certainly have done it at the highest level, winning the Super Bowl, and being able to turn over, losing L'Jarius Snead, and put another guy out there to take his place.
"Spags does a great job. Their whole coaching staff does. I feel we're in the same mold in terms of getting younger guys and developing them, and sometimes it just takes a little more time than others. But I feel like we're on the right track."
JA'MARR CHASING
In his five career games against the Chiefs, Chase averages 107 yards on seven catches and has a total of four touchdowns. He didn't have a touchdown last week to go with his six catches for 62 yards, which puts him on pace to make history.
Chase needs 80 catches on 1,000 yards, and seven touchdown receptions in 2024 to become the first player in NFL history to reach those numbers in each of their first four seasons.
He can also join former Bengal A.J. Green on an elite list. He needs six games with at least 100 yards to become the fourth player with 20 or more 100-yarders in his first four seasons. Green had 20, Justin Jefferson 29, and Randy Moss 23.
