NFL Playoff Recap: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals 24:27 OT

The Cincinnati Bengals reached the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1988 season with a sensational 27:24 overtime win over the Kansas City Chiefs. The guests even had to catch up with an 18-point deficit. In the end it was Patrick Mahomes of all people who made the crucial mistakes with the favorites.

The sensation is perfect! The Cincinnati Bengals are in the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1988 season. And as in the divisional game, it was again rookie kicker Evan McPherson who brought about the win. He sunk a 31-yard field goal in overtime, leaving Arrowhead Stadium shocked.

The Chiefs started like firefighters, scoring three touchdowns on their first three drives of the game. Patrick Mahomes opened the game with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill, then after a nearly 8-second scramble followed it up with a 5-yard TD pass to Travis Kelce, then was allowed to pass after a 3-yard TD- Pass to Mecole Hardman cheer again.

During that time, the Bengals only managed one field goal after an unsuccessful red zone drive.

However, the guests got the better end of the first half. After an 18-yard pass from Joe Burrow (23/38, 250 YDS, 2 TD, INT) to Tee Higgins, Burrow finally found running back Samaje Perine via screen. And he turned it into a 41-yard touchdown catch-and-run. However, the Bengals left 1:05 on the clock, which should have been enough time for Mahomes to put in another scoring drive.

That almost worked, too, because after a couple of chunk plays and a pass interference in the end zone by cornerback Eli Apple, the Chiefs were at the 1-yard line with 13 seconds to play. In the end, however, Mahomes also managed one and threw a pass to Hill with 5 seconds left on the clock and without a timeout at 2nd and Goal, who was finally stopped in the backfield by Apple, making the break 21:10 Kansas City.

After the break, both defenses initially had more access, Mahomes in particular was put under a little better pressure and made a few incompletions on longer passes. After a total of three punts, the Bengals marched back into the red zone. The result, after a sack on 1st down by Melvin Ingram, was the same as the first half – a field goal.

Chiefs vs. Bengals: Mahomes interception fuels Bengals comeback

After that, however, events took a turn for the worse: Mahomes threw a no-look pass down the middle that was intended to be a checkdown to Demarcus Robinson. But defensive lineman BJ Hill jumped into the pass, punched it in the air and intercepted the ball himself – Interception Bengals to the 27-yard line! From there, she brought Ja’Marr Chase into the red zone for 17 yards after a screen. And this time the guests took their chance: Burrow found a well-covered chase in the end zone for a touchdown from the 2-yard line and then Trent Taylor made it 21:21 with a 2-point conversion.

But even after that it went on and on. The Bengals punted again with a sack on 3rd down, but then Burrow made his first mistake too – he threw an interception to L’Jarius Snead at the start of the final quarter and handed the ball back to Kansas City on their own 47. The Chiefs didn’t do anything either, instead forcing Trey Hendrickson to punt with a sack.

The visitors, led by a couple of 3rd-down scrambles from Burrow and a 16-yard pass to Tee Higgins, marched at least within reach for a 52-yard field goal. which McPherson confidently sank and gave the Bengals the lead for the first time in the game with around six minutes to go.

The Chiefs then took the time off the clock and marched into the red zone. But instead of taking the lead, Mahomes not only ran twice unnecessarily to stop the Bengals’ clock, he also failed to break away early in the red zone, instead taking two sacks and having Luckily the guests didn’t conquer the fumble on the second sack. With the clock running out, Harrison Butker finally hit from 44 yards and, like the previous week, sent the game into overtime.

Chiefs vs. Bengals: Referee controversy near the end

The Chiefs then won the coin toss as in the divisional game and received the ball first. But after two incompletions – the second should have been a pick six from Eli Apple – Mahomes finally tried a deep shot to Hill, but Jessie Bates deflected it and Vonn Bell grabbed the interception. In return, McPherson finally hit the decisive field goal. On the way there, however, there was a controversial referee decision. After a run to Joe Mixon’s 1st down, Chiefs coach Andy Reid timed out and asked for a referee review because he felt Mixon had gone down without contact, got up, and then threw the ball away.

Coach’s question: Was this a fumble? However, the umpires denied his request, ruling that the running back surrendered himself on the play. This makes a review impossible. However, the few video recordings of the scene did not clearly clarify whether there was contact with opponents.

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