The 2024/25 National Football League (NFL) season kicked off last week Thursday (September 5) and there was a little bit of everything in the first week, both on and off the field: The first NFL game in South America, the detaining of “the cheetah”, last-second wins, upsets, an overtime game, and a win for the league’s new highest-ever paid player. The highlights are numerous, but there are a few that still stand out heading into Week 2.

In the opener last Thursday, the contest between the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens proved that the game is really about a matter of inches (literally). The first game of the season was decided when Baltimore’s tight end Isiah Likely saw his cleats land a fraction of an inch out of bounds at the back of the end zone, as time expired, handing the Chiefs the 27-20 victory. Then a historic Friday game in Brazil confirmed that “Love sometimes Hurts” after the Green Bay Packers’ quarterback (QB) Jordan Love was injured, with four seconds to go, in a 29-34 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, with Jalen Hurts under center.

The Sunday slate got off with breaking news that the Dallas Cowboys made QB Dak Prescott the highest-ever paid player in the NFL, then videos emerged of Miami Dolphins’ wide receiver Tyreek Hill being detained by police officers and placed in handcuffs, just outside the Hard Rock Stadium. Prescott and the Cowboys’ defence responded with a dominating 33-17 win over the Cleveland Browns, and Hill, who was released in ample time for the game, refused to be contained, and finished with 130 receiving yards and a touchdown, in a hard-fought 20-17 comeback win over upstate neighbours, the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The New England Patriots upset the Cincinnati Bengals 16-10 in Jerod Mayo’s first game as head coach. The Chicago Bears had an impressive second half – particularly the fourth quarter – and pulled off a 24-17 win over the Tennessee Titans, while the “Exchange Bowl” between the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams was decided in overtime on Sunday night, with a 26-20 Detroit victory. The Lions and Rams famously ‘swapped’ QBs in 2021 with Matthew Stafford leaving Detroit, after 12 seasons, displacing Jared Goff as the Rams play caller, and Goff going to line up under centre for the Lions.

On to Week 2, where a full slate of games is again lined up, with six games being played where both teams are 1-0, six games where both teams are 0-1, and the other four games pair teams with a win or a loss. The pick of the pack being the matchup between the Chiefs and the Bengals.

The Bengals (0-1) enter the weekend as JustBet underdogs ahead of their showdown with the Chiefs (1-0), due mainly to them coming up short against the Patriots last Sunday. Cincinnati QB Joe Burrow is 3-1 against QB Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, the only loss coming in the 2022 American Football Conference (AFC) championship game. The Chiefs would go on to win their second Super Bowl title with Mahomes, and after winning again last season, they are aiming to be the NFL’s first-ever three-peat.

The Bengals were the biggest JustBet favourites in Week 1 as they were predicted to outclass the Patriots, but the 10 points scored was way below expectations, even with wide receiver Tee Higgins out with a hamstring injury. They will face much stiffer opposition this weekend and, with Higgins still expected to be out and Ja’Maar Chase appearing to be distracted by contact discussions, the Bengals face an uphill task.

This rivalry has been played 34 times (including two postseason games), with the Bengals winning 18 games and the Kansas City Chiefs winning 16, but the scoring in the most recent history of this contest is what really counts this weekend. Four of the last five games played in this matchup were decided by exactly three points, and the last encounter was decided by eight, Kansas City winning the last two and Cincinnati winning the previous three.

These teams have provided some epic games in recent years, with Joe Burrow being the only active QB to beat Mahomes in the play-offs, but the JustBet odds would suggest that the once-close rivalry may have fizzled. Burrow was without a key receiver last Sunday and Chase didn’t do enough to justify his contract holdout, which may have impacted the outcome of their matchup with the Patriots.

The game will be played at Arrowhead Stadium, arguably the loudest arena in the league, and the chance of the Bengals coming out with a win, especially short-handed, is slim. The Chiefs are on a mission to three-peat, and this is looking like a stepping stone to that objective. Of course, this is football, and Burrow and the Bengals could surprise, but that is highly unlikely. Are you ready for some football?

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Super Bowl LIX Champion–February 9, 2025