A historic run for the Cincinnati Bengals comes to a painful end.
After winning a franchise-record 10 straight games that features a rare wire-to-wire road playoff win against the Buffalo Bills, the Bengals begin their offseason two weeks earlier than planned. Cincinnati’s season comes to a halt following a 23-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game.
Much like their last three meetings, the game came down to a field goal score and a late field goal at that. Harrison Butker’s 45-yard game-winning kick avenged Kansas City’s last three losses to Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. Although Cincinnati had multiple attempts and plays to take a lead, they never led Kansas City once despite tying the game up twice.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, despite playing with a high ankle sprain, was swallowed up left and right by Cincinnati’s defense, which sacked him twice, but he sustained those hits and kept going by any means necessary. He exploited Cincinnati’s defense through several explosive passes downfield to Marquez Valdes-Scantling and a series of screen passes to rookie running back Isiah Pacheco.
Burrow, meanwhile, had flashbacks of last year’s playoff nightmares after the Chiefs sacked him six times. All-Pro defensive end Chris Jones took this game personal following trash talk remarks regarding Arrowhead Stadium’s name and image and took that out with two sacks of his own.
Wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins each had some of the best catches in their careers that both kept the Bengals in the game. But, their efforts just weren’t enough, and they couldn’t fully complete the comeback that they put together in last year’s AFC title game.
The Strictly Stripes crew does its final postgame podcast of the 2022 season as the Bengals prepare for a lengthy offseason that could see lots of uncertain changes. They explain how this game could have gone any other way and how the Bengals move on from the stinging loss.
This podcast features Mohammad Ahmad, Andrew Gillis and Michael Niziolek.
Music: Starfields by Hallman
Music Link: https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/nQ9ldbVF7D/
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