Tee Higgins out; Burrow and Mahomes aim for milestones on Sunday; Ja'Marr chases history

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – As expected when head coach Zac Taylor announced his inactive list for Sunday's game against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, wide receiver Tee Higgins (hamstring) will miss his second consecutive game.

Tight end Tanner Hudson (knee), who missed practice Wednesday and Friday, is active, but it was unclear how much he will play.

So the list of inactives is the same as it was for last week's opener. Right tackle Amarius Mims (pec) was limited all week and defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Jr. (thumb) had surgery last Friday. Rookie tight end Tanner McLachlan and rookie defensive end Cedric Johnson appear to be healthy and well again.

This is one of those NFL games where the quarterbacks are actually living up to the expectations set for Sunday's showdown between Joe Burrow of the Bengals and Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs.

With a win, Burrow could become the only quarterback to beat the two-time Super Bowl MVP four times. With a win, Mahomes will tie 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 wins.

But when Burrow met with the press last week, Sunday and Mahomes were not an issue for him.

“Sunday comes when Sunday comes,” Burrow said. “I'm focused on learning from today's practice. Going out tomorrow and having a good day and going from there. If you string the practices together, you're going to go out and play better on Sundays consistently. That's what I'm focused on right now.”

Burrow got off to a slow start in 2022, throwing four interceptions in the opening game, but rebounded to set a career high with 35 touchdown passes in his second 4,000-yard season.

Burrow admitted he was just finding his way around the pocket when he stepped onto the field for the first time in nearly a year last Sunday.

“It's always tough when you come back from an injury and you haven't played in a while,” Burrow said. “I wasn't quite sure how I was going to feel. That's part of it. No one panics in Week 1. I've said that here before. Unfortunately, we're in the same place after Week 1, but we have another opportunity on Sunday and 15 more opportunities after that to get better and show what we're about.”

If he accomplishes what he did in 2022, Burrow would join Mahomes, who has thrown 30 touchdown passes and 4,000 yards in three of his first five seasons. Josh Allen and Dan Marino are the only others to do that.

When it comes to drafting and development, the Bengals and Chiefs secondaries are a mirror image of each other.

After allowing a rookie-record 266 yards to Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase and then giving up another 103 yards to Higgins a month later in the 2021 AFC title game, the Chiefs 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. As is safety Bryan Cook, a second-round pick in that draft.

The Bengals have also stayed young. They also picked up their cornerbacks for Sunday 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 upped the ante the next season by taking DJ Turner in the second round, and he is their first cornerback off the bench.

This offseason, both teams lost their No. 1 cornerbacks in the 2021 championship game when new Titans head coach and old friend Brian Callahan signed both Chidobe Awuzie from the Bengals and L'Jarius Sneed from the Chiefs as free agents. Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and his counterpart in Kansas City, Steve Spagnuolo, are committed to further development.

“I just think we're all in that mindset these days. You know you're paying certain players, you're getting some younger players and we need to evolve,” Anarumo said earlier this week. “They certainly did it at the highest level, won the Super Bowl and were able to lose L'Jarius Snead and put another player on the field to take his place.”

“Spags is doing a great job. So is her entire coaching staff. I think we're in the same league as far as recruiting and developing younger players. Sometimes it just takes a little longer than others. But I think we're on the right track.”

In his five career games against the Chiefs, Chase has averaged 107 yards on seven catches and scored four total touchdowns. Last week, he failed to score a touchdown despite hauling in six catches for 62 yards, putting him on pace to make history.

Chase needs 80 catches for 1,000 yards and seven touchdown receptions in 2024 to become the first player in NFL history to achieve those numbers in each of his first four seasons.

He also joins former Bengal AJ Green on an elite list. He needs six games with at least 100 yards to become the fourth player with 20 or more 100-yard rushing runs in his first four seasons. Green had 20, Justin Jefferson 29 and Randy Moss 23.