The Cincinnati Bengals are set to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game for the second consecutive season on Sunday. As exciting as that is, the task has become more difficult as of Friday.
Cincinnati survived not having starting left tackle Jonah Williams and right guard Alex Cappa against the Buffalo Bills last week. However, they will have to relive those unfortunate circumstances again as both have been ruled out versus the Chiefs.
Bengals ruled out OL Jonah Willams and Alex Cappa for Sunday’s AFC Championship Game vs. the Chiefs.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 27, 2023
Williams dislocated his kneecap in the Bengals’ first-round win over the Baltimore Ravens and Cappa has been out since the season finale with an ankle issue.
Both are immensely important to the Bengals’ offensive line as Williams logged 100% of the snaps in 15 of the 16 games he played in while Cappa did the same in 14 out of 16 games this season.
Bengals’ head coach, Zac Taylor, spoke on how it must be difficult for Williams and Cappa to not be on the field with so much on the line Sunday.
“They work hard, they work as hard as anybody we’ve got on the team to put themselves in a great position,” Taylor said. “It’s a part of football and they understand that and they’re doing everything they can to get back on the field.”
This is a major blow for the Bengals, especially with starting right tackle La’el Collins already on the shelf.