KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Many Kansas City Chiefs fans would consider the Cincinnati Bengals a rival now, with both teams facing each other in the AFC Championship for the second consecutive season and the margin between the last three games being a combined nine points.
But in defensive tackle Chris Jones' eyes, the Chiefs and the Bengals aren't rivals, at least not yet, because all three games have gone in the Bengals' favor.
"A rivalry is when you go back and forth, winning and losing," Jones said. "We haven't beaten them yet, so I don't think we can call it a rivalry yet. That's kind of farfetched."
The off-the-field talk from Cincinnati has certainly felt like a rivalry is growing, with Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton taking a shot at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium and calling it "Burrowhead."
Burrowhead 📍 pic.twitter.com/QQUL8ELEt9
— ZIM (@zimwhodey) January 24, 2023
Chiefs players had kept quiet about Hilton's comments until Friday when Jones referenced Hilton's comment during his talk with the media Friday.
"God is good man," Jones said. "It's like a full 360, right? Same thing, same circumstances under 'Burrowhead Stadium.'"
Jones knows the Chiefs need to beat the Bengals and the time to do it is Sunday when Kansas City will try to avenge last year's gut-wrenching AFC Championship loss to Cincinnati at home.
He closed out his portion of Friday's press conference with a simple message.
"See y'all at 'Burrowhead,'" Jones said.
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