In a game that has absolutely no playoff implications whatsoever the 2-13 Kansas City Chiefs will travel to Cincinnati to take on the 3-11-1 Bengals. The game will however have major draft positioning implications, with a Chiefs loss and a St. Louis Rams victory the Chiefs would be assured the # 2 pick in the draft behind the winless Lions.

If the Bengals win and the Seahawks, Browns and Raiders lose the Bengals could fall more than three slots in the draft. But neither of these two teams are thinking about their draft positioning both of these teams have suffered through a forgettable season and as a result both of these team’s coaches are on the hot seat. Herm Edwards maybe slightly more secure in his job status than Marvin Lewis but not by a lot and neither of these coaches would be surprised if they were handed a pink slip after the game.

The Bengals will be looking for their 3rd straight victory to close out the season on Sunday, after starting out the season 0-8 the Bengals could finish the 2nd half of the season 4-3-1. The Bengals have gone the past 11 weeks without the services of their franchise QB Carson Palmer who has been sidelined with a elbow injury and QB Ryan Fitzpatrick will be making his 12th start of the season. In his 11 starts Fitzpatrick has thrown for 1700 yards 8 TD’s and 9 INT’S leading the Bengals to be ranked dead last in points, yards per game and a league ranking of 31st in passing yards per game, all of this on a offense that still boast Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and former top 5 pick Cedric Benson. The Bengals defense has fared only slightly better ranking in the bottom third of the league at 22nd in points per game and 22nd in yards per game.

With a new boss coming to town in K.C. for many players this will be their last opportunity to audition for their job. Many players are already aware of this LG Brian Waters was quoted as saying “Change is happening,” “Every guy should prepare himself for that.”. Ending the season on a positive note will be key for the Chiefs, earlier this week QB Tyler Thigpen said he understood just how important it is “It’s huge. If you end on a win, you go into next season with a win as your last game. That’d be a really good thing for us as players, for the coaches and for the fans here in the community.” The Chiefs should be able to exploit the Bengals atrocious offense, last time the Chiefs played a weak offensive team was week 13 when they defeated the Oakland Raiders 20-13 in Oakland.

The Keys to the Game

Stop T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Ocho Cinco: Both receivers have had less than stellar seasons while T.J. has 92 receptions he has been limited to 904 yards. Chad Johnson has had his worst season statistically since his rookie season, but the Chiefs have trouble stopping successful receiver duo’s . Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal both got yards on the Chiefs so did Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad and Randy Moss and Wes Welker, all the Chiefs need to do here is not wake the sleeping giant.

Give L.J. the rock 20 times: This has been a key to the game for the last three weeks but the Chiefs refuse to follow the recipe that has enabled the Chiefs to win their only two games this season. When the Chiefs give L.J. the ball 20 times they are 2-2 when they don’t they are 0-13. Despite the Chiefs willingness to ignore L.J. in their offense he has still produced 856 rushing yards on just 183 carries averaging 4.7 yards a carry in 11 games with 5 TD’S. L.J. still has something in the tank and the Chiefs need to use it.

Win the 4th quarter: Everybody knows the Chiefs story, a young team that has played several playoff contenders to the very end only to lose in the waning moments. Sometimes the Chiefs completely outplayed their opponent only to completely give away the game in the 4th quarter. Either way the Chiefs have no clue how to smell blood in the water and put a nail in the coffin to close teams out. The Chiefs need to play their best 15 minutes the last 15 minutes of the game.

Injury Report

A. Boone P – Thigh

Bengals report

Stacy Andrews T Knee Out

Carson Palmer QB Right Elbow Out

Levi Jones T Hamstring Doubtful

Chad Johnson WR Hamstring Questionable

Cedric Benson RB Ankle Probable

Jamar Fletcher CB Back Probable

Pat Sims DT Biceps Probable

Kenny Watson RB Hamstring Probable

T.J. Houshmandzadeh WR Back Probable

Chris Perry RB Ankle Probable

Weather Report: Weather at kickoff will be 54 degrees a southerly breeze at 21 miles per hour and light sprinkles

Final Score: Chiefs 34 Bengals 14

The Chiefs have been in so many close games and lost that they are prime for a break out game youth will serve the Chiefs well as the Bengals are a veteran laden team and they know the insignificance of this game and may come out flat. The Chiefs are too young to know any better and will come swinging, if the Bengals get down early the could just throw the towel in and that would make for a long day for Bengals fans.