A 45-yard field goal succeeded by Harrison Butker with four seconds to go allowed the Chiefs of Kansas City to defeat the Bengals from Cincinnati 23 to 20, Sunday, and thus ensure their place in the Super Bowl.
On February 12, the Chiefs will cross swords with the Phildelphia Eagles with the Vince-Lombardi trophy at stake.
This is Kansas City’s fifth participation in the ultimate duel, and the first since 2020. They were then defeated by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Chiefs’ star quarterback Patrick Mahomes gave Butker the chance to play hero when he got a first down on an impromptu run, in addition to taking a tackle from Joseph Ossai outside the boundaries of the field.
The quarterback then savored the victory despite his ankle injury suffered in the previous game once morest the Jacksonville Jaguars.
As for veteran coach Andy Reid, he will be able to savor his fourth appearance in the NFL Ultimate Game as a head coach, and ironically, he will do so once morest a team he led for 14 seasons.
“I’m really looking forward to this confrontation between Kansas City and Philly! It’s going to be a great Super Bowl, I’m sure of it, ”said Reid following the victory for the Chiefs, who he has captained for a decade now.
The penalty Ossai took alone seriously undermined the Bengals’ chances of sending the game to overtime.
With 41 seconds left, returner Skyy Moore managed to chip away at 29 yards on a punt return, and Mahomes then found the inspiration needed to achieve the result that we know today.
The Kansas City squad got a crucial sack from Chris Jones with just 39 seconds left to play, forcing the Bengals to clear the ball.
On third down and four yards to go, Mahomes escaped the pressure and headed to the sidelines before being shoved off by Ossai.
The Chiefs were able to do what the Buffalo Bills failed to do last week: They applied pressure on the Bengals offensive line, which was missing two starters.
Burrow was the victim of three sacks in the first quarter and the Bengals offense had no yards.
The Cincy quarterback eventually had five sacks, and finished the game with a touchdown pass, two interceptions and 270 aerial yards. Tee Higgins had six catches for 83 yards and a major.
An unusual and costly blunder
A turnover by Mahomes in the third quarter opened the door wide for the Bengals, who scrambled to tie the game for the second time in the matchup.
Without being the victim of any pressure, Mahomes fumbled the ball, and Sam Hubbard took it over, breathing new life into the visitors, last year’s Super Bowl finalists.
After a most daring aerial game by Joe Burrow worms Ja’Marr Chase, Samaje Perineum scored the middle finger from close range two yards.
Mahomes’ second touchdown pass of the night had previously given the Chiefs a 20-13 lead with 4:15 remaining in the third quarter.
Responding to the first major of the game in Cincinnati, the KC star quarterback unleashed a most precise pass towards Marquez Valdes-Scantlingin the center of the end zone.
Mahomes came close to joining Kadarius Toney for a long aerial touchdown on the Chiefs’ first offensive possession.
Toney fumbled the ball in the end zone, however, and kicker Harrison Butker then successfully performed for 43 yards.
From the Chiefs’ next offensive sequence, the running back Isiah Pachecho thought he had given his club a ten-point lead by running the nine yards to the end zone.
A penalty imposed on Andrew Wylie for holding, however, dampened the spirits of the fans at Arrowhead Stadium, and Butker came on for a short kick, making it 6-0.
After a timid start to the game, Burrow led an inspiring first offensive streak early in the second quarter.
The Bengals’ quest for the first touchdown of the night ended at the 12 line, however, when the young quarterback’s attempt at the tight end Hayden Hurst was countered.
Thus, Cincinnati found itself in turn having to settle for a precision kick, managed by Evan McPherson.
Mahomes continued to manhandle the Bengals secondary in her third appearance on the field. This time, the star quarterback for the Chiefs made his rivals pay with a risky gamble that paid off. On a fourth down and one yard to go, Mahomes joined his favorite target, tight end Travis Kelceon 14 yards for the first major of the game.
Kelce now ranks second in NFL history for receiving yards (1,467) in playoff games. He allowed himself to steal the second position from the former New England Patriots, Julian Edelman. Hall of Famer Jerry Rice holds the record with 2,245 yards.
Burrow had another encouraging streak before halftime, during the two-minute offense, but once once more the Kansas City defense got up to stop a passing touchdown.
McPherson was therefore put to use a second time, and the latter allowed the Bengals to retreat to the locker room with a reasonable decline of seven points (13 to 6).
The Bengals offense continued to gain confidence coming back from the break, and that led to their first touchdown of the night. Ignoring a double blanket in his place, Tee Higgins had his most important catch on 27 yards, bringing the counters to zero.