India, Sept. 30 -- The NFL's most compelling AFC rivalry will not play a regular-season chapter in 2025. Local coverage, including WLWT's schedule note, says this is the first season since 2020 without a Bengals vs Chiefs matchup, a wrinkle that arrives just as Patrick Mahomes has rediscovered throttle and Cincinnati has been thrown into a quarterback reset. The absence won't cool the temperature; it simply delays the next boil, with January the likely pressure valve.

The timing of the lull is striking. One day before the NFL's Week 4 dust fully settled, Mahomes logged his 250th career touchdown pass in a 37-20 statement over the Baltimore Ravens, a performance that steadied Kansas City and reminded the AFC that the Chiefs still set the ...