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 once more rookie kicker Evan McPherson who brought regarding 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 following a nearly 8-second scramble followed it up with a 5-yard TD pass to Travis Kelce, then was allowed to pass following a 3-yard TD- Pass to Mecole Hardman cheer once more.
During that time, the Bengals only managed one field goal following 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 following 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, following 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 following 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 following that it went on and on. The Bengals punted once more 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 following 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.
AFC Championship Game: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Result: 24:27 OT (7:3, 14:7, 0:11, 3:3, 0:3) BOXSCORE
Chiefs vs. Bengals – the most important statistics
- On his touchdown pass to Kelce in the first half, Mahomes had 7.94 seconds to throw through his scramble maneuver, according to Next Gen Stats. That was the longest throw for a touchdown in Mahomes’ entire NFL career!
- With his 54 receiving yards, Chase now has 279 receiving yards in the playoffs. That’s the most for a rookie in NFL history. He passed Torry Holt, who had 242 yards for the Rams in 1999.
- The Bengals caught up an 18-point deficit (3:21). That ties the record for the biggest comeback in an AFC championship game. The Indianapolis Colts previously did so following the 2006 season once morest the Patriots (38-34).
- It’s only Mahomes’ third loss in the playoffs. And the first once morest a quarterback whose name isn’t Tom Brady.
- Burrow is now the first overall pick quarterback in NFL history to lead his team to the Super Bowl in his first two seasons in the NFL.
The star of the game: Jessie Bates (Safety, Bengals)
Bates and fellow sideman Bell were arguably the main reason the entire Bengals secondary improved significantly late in the second quarter and the rest of the game. It was Bates who prepared the interception in overtime with his deflection to Bell. He also had a couple of important tackles.
The Flop of the Match: Patrick Mahomes (Quarterback, Chiefs)
Mahomes (26/39, 275 YDS, 3 TD, 2 INT) started dreamily with three touchdowns in his first three drives. After that, however, the superstar hardly saw land and made an unusual number of mistakes. Before the break he threw away a safe three points with his pass to Hill when the clock was running out, his first interception was bad and then there was his questionable final phase: on the way to the red zone he twice saved the time for the Bengals with his scrambles Off on and then he also collected two sacks that shouldn’t have been. The pick in overtime was unlucky, but before that he threw a pass right into Apple’s arms, who luckily dropped the ball. Accordingly, Mahomes took responsibility for the defeat: “If you lead 21:3, you can’t lose that anymore. And that’s on me.”
Analysis: Chiefs vs. Bengals – the tactics board
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The Chiefs offensively did what they have been doing for weeks – they took what the defenses offered them. Mahomes mostly relied on short passes – screens and checkdowns – and let the playmaker make plays.
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The Bengals mostly countered with 2-high safeties and also played more off-coverage, which made it even easier for the Chiefs to throw said short passes. However, the Bengals occasionally used single-high concepts, which Mahomes then punished with deep shots on hardman or hill.
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Defensively, the Chiefs also varied between 2-high and single-high looks, but made it a point to always play double coverage with safety help once morest Chase. Sometimes they even offered three linebackers, contrary to their normal tendencies, when they expected run-plays. In the few plays in which they had Chase in single coverage, however, Burrow consistently sought him out – including his touchdown.
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Cincy started offensively very cautiously, also with rather short passes and run plays, which sometimes even brought a lot of space gain – in each case once morest light boxes. Play action, on the other hand, was very measured, in contrast to the Chiefs, who also used pre-snap motion and shifts much more often than usual in this game to expose and confuse the defense.