The Cincinnati Bengals produced the perfect comeback to beat the Kansas City Chiefs and be crowned the 2021 AFC champions as Evan McPherson’s field goal in overtime secured a 27-24 win for the Bengals and a spot in Super Bowl LVI.
Following a third-quarter where the Bengals scored 11 unanswered points and an outstanding performance from head coach Zac Taylor’s defense in the second half, Cincinnati managed to keep Patrick Mahomes quiet, restricting them to just a field at the end of regular time to send the game to overtime.
However, while the Bengals were impressive in the second half, it was a completely different story in the first, where the Bengals' offense struggled. After going three and out on their first possession, the Chiefs were already asserting control on the game.
As expected, the Chiefs offense was clinical, scoring three touchdowns in their first three possessions to go up 21-3. But the Bengals breathed some life into a first half to forget after Joe Burrow’s short pass found Samaje Perine, who ran for 41 yards in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 11.
For a moment as the first half came to a close, it looked like the Chiefs would extend their lead, but the Bengals defense produced a huge play as the game clock expired, stopping Tyreek Hill’s attempts to break into the endzone after being on the end of a 1 yard Mahomes pass.
Would this give the Bengals hope of producing a monumental upset in Arrowhead?
It turns out it did. The Chiefs were forced off the field for the first time in the game early in the third, and the Bengals defense continued to terrorize Mahomes and his star-studded offense. Following a McPherson field goal in the final three minutes, Mahomes threw his first interception, and B.J. Hill of the Bengals managed to get his team in a dangerous position offensively.
Burrow then capitalized on this mistake, closing the third quarter with a TD pass to Ja’Marr Chase and a successful two-point conversion to Trent Taylor.
Going into the fourth, the scores were tied at 21-21. The boisterous Arrowhead crowd tried its best to will the Chiefs on, but they continued to stutter. Mahomes was sacked two more times, and McPherson delivered for the Bengals with a 52-yard field goal to put the team ahead 24-21 with 06:02 remaining.
As expected, the Chiefs wouldn’t go down without a fight. In typical Mahomes fashion, he drove his team down the field in the final two minutes, setting up Harrison Butker for a successful 44-yard field goal in the dying seconds to tie the scores at 24-24 and send the game into overtime.
What happened next was a collapse that is unusual to see from Andy Reid and his Chiefs team.
Despite winning the coin toss and electing to receive, Mahomes threw away the possession in the opening minute after Vonn Bell intercepted his pass on the Bengals 40.
The goal was simple for Burrow, get the team within field goal for range for McPherson, and he did exactly that. Stepping onto the field with 9:26 left on the clock, the Bengals kicker’s 52-yard attempt was good, cueing silence from the Chiefs crowd and celebrations on the Bengals sideline.
For the Bengals to bounce back as they did in a hostile cauldron-like Arrowhead, it takes something special and everyone from the team pulling their weight, and the second half performance reinforced that. The defense improved massively while the offense dialed back on the extravagant plays and jumped on any opportunity to keep the ball out of Mahomes’ hands.
The postseason has been one of the records falling for the Bengals, first came their first playoff win in 31 years, and now they tied the record for the biggest comeback in conference championship history after being 18 points down. Will they be able to go one step further and win their first-ever Super Bowl title?
Re-live the best moments from the 2021 AFC Championship game below.