Valdes-Scantling never lived up to the expectations placed upon him in Green Bay as the successor to Davante Adams. Measuring in at 6-foot-4, 206 pounds and running a swift 4.3 40, Scantling is a promising deep threat, but has been plagued by drops.

The recipient of a three-year, $30 million contract this offseason barely reached halfway to 1,000 yards. A quiet AFC Championship Game for him would maintain the status quo.

Brown arrived in Kansas City as a transformative pass blocker on the edge for Patrick Mahomes. Instead, he’s been a polarizing figure on the offensive line. Early on in the 2022 season, Pro Football Focus graded him 55th out of 65 tackles as his turnstile blocking allowed relentless pressure to reach Mahomes.

Brown is an insanely streaky tackle on the blind side after burnishing a reputation as a top-tier right tackle in Baltimore.

If Mahomes is limited mobility-wise, it’s imperative for Brown to clean up the mistakes and keep Trey Hendrickson’s edge pressure off of Mahomes’s blind side.

Cincinnati spent gobs of money in the offseason upgrading their “Joe Burrow cleanup on aisle 3” offensive line. However, their offensive line still possesses the second-longest active streak for consecutive games surrendering a sack and Steve Spagnuolo’s pass rush will be facing an offensive line still moving Jenga pieces around after a slate of injuries. Left tackle Jonah Williams and right tackle La’el Collins will both be spectators for this one.

Reid talked a big game before Kansas City’s Week 13 loss to the Bengals. He ultimately wound up eating those words and a mouthful of turf.

Tyrann Mathieu’s replacement hasn’t been terrible, but hasn’t registered an interception in his first year outside of the dysfunctional Houston Texans environment. And things didn’t go so well last time he faced Cincinnati either.