Chiefs make slight change to inactive player strategy for Week 2 game vs. Bengals

The Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals are set to square off at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium for Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season.

Typically, these two teams face each other much later in the season. This year, we're getting the matchup early to ensure that the star quarterbacks for each team are healthy and ready to play. The same can't be said for every player on each team, though. In fact, the Chiefs' opponents are a little beat up heading into this Week 2 contest that could have some big implications in seeding in the AFC conference .

Here's a quick breakdown of the inactive players for each team during tonight's game:

Chiefs inactive players:

• OT Ethan Driskell
• OL CJ Hanson
• DE Cameron Thomas
• DT Marlon Tuipulotu

Bengals inactive players:

• WR Tee Higgins
• OT Amarius Mims
• DT Kris Jenkins
• DE Cedric Johnson
• TE Tanner McLachlan

Observations:

The Chiefs only have four players inactive because they have 52 players on the roster after WR Hollywood Brown's placement on injured reserve . They did not elevate any players from the practice squad this week.

This is virtually the same group of inactive players that Kansas City had last week, sans Brown (IR) and TE Peyton Hendershot. Cameron Thomas replaces Hendershot this week, giving the Chiefs four active tight ends.

The Bengals are missing more contributors and star power than the Chiefs heading into this game, no matter how you dice it. The fact that 4-of-5 players are missing due to injuries is also rather concerning for Cincinnati this early in the year.

Related: Final injury report for Chiefs and Bengals puts Cincinnati at a clear disadvantage heading into Week 2