A viral photo of a young Joe Burrow shows the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback wearing a Kansas City Chiefs helmet days before their matchup in the AFC Championship Game.
Joe's father, Jimmy Burrow, shared the photo, which shows the former No. 1 overall pick being held by his mother during an Iowa Barnstormers indoor football game, on his Twitter account on Friday (January 27).
"Joe watching an Iowa Barnstormer game with his Mom . Won’t be wearing that helmet Sunday. Who Dey," Jimmy Burrow tweeted.
Burrow will face the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game for the second consecutive year, having led the Bengals to a 27-24 overtime upset last January and again in a 27-24 regular-season win at Paycor Stadium in December.
The third-year quarterback threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns on 23 of 36 passing, while also recording 31 yards on six rushing attempts during the Bengals' 27-10 win against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Divisional Round last Sunday (January 22). The Chiefs are currently listed as a consensus 1.5-point favorite ahead of Sunday's game after the betting lines moved several times.
The Chiefs were initially listed as the favorite, then underdog and back to favorite this week amid quarterback Patrick Mahomes' high ankle sprain, which he experienced during the first half of Kansas City's AFC Divisional Round win against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Mahomes, who returned in the second half and finished Saturday's game with 195 yards and two touchdowns on 22 of 30 passing, said he was "ready to go" while addressing reporters on Wednesday (January 27), which led to the Chiefs once again being the consensus favorite on sportsbooks.
"It's doing good," Mahomes said via ESPN. "I've done a few days of treatment, a few days of rehab. Excited to get on the practice field and kind of test it out and see where I'm at. But it's feeling good so far.
"I felt better than I thought I was going to be after the game. Moving on it during the game definitely hurt. But after the game, I was able to rest it and kind of ice it up and do different stuff like that. I felt in a little bit better position, and obviously the next morning felt a little bit better, and then I've continued to get better throughout the week, so we'll see how I feel today at practice."
The Bengals initially opened as high as a 3-point underdog on some sportsbook apps and have attracted many early bets this week coming off a decisive win in the AFC Divisional Round.