The Buffalo Bills were seemingly destined to race to the Super Bowl after a season of adversity.
Instead, they had to watch from the couch as the Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship on Sunday.
But what they got to see was another thriller in an AFC season-long thrill-seeker as the Chiefs scored a game-winning field goal in the dying seconds to beat the Bengals 23-20, the AFC to win and advance to Super Bowl LVII where they face the Philadelphia Eagles.
With a 20-20 tie and less than a minute to go, the Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes found themselves with the ball and a shot at the win, though getting within manageable field-goal range didn’t come naturally . But an unnecessary roughness penalty against the Bengals on Mahomes with seconds remaining allowed Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker to kick a 45-yard green field goal to secure the win.
Mahomes completed 29 of 43 passes for 326 yards and two touchdowns while receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling made it big with six catches for 116 yards and a touchdown.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow narrowly managed to get into two consecutive Super Bowls. He finished 26 of 41 passes for a touchdown but also had two interceptions.
The Chiefs took a 13-3 lead late in the second quarter after Mahomes found Travis Kelce in 4th and 1st place for a 14-yard touchdown when the Bengals scored a field goal to make it a 13-6 game to do that went into halftime.
The game’s big turning point came late in the third quarter after Mahomes fumbled a snap with no resistance from defense. The Bengals rallied and capitalized on a huge advantage despite being in danger of falling two points behind.
Faced with a subsequent 4th and 6th, Burrow Chase unloaded a deep shot in double cover, but the star receiver went up and made the contested catch. The Bengals scored two games later to tie the game at 20-20.
Both defenses reinforced in the closing stages before the Bengals had possession just before the two-minute mark. But even after converting a 3rd and 16th with a late field goal opportunity, Chiefs defenseman Chris Jones fired Burrow on a subsequent third stoppage to give Mahomes another chance.
That’s all the potential 2022 MVP needed to put his team within game-winning field goal range as the Chiefs head into their third Super Bowl in the last four seasons.
Follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmit7
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