The critics said they would go three and 14, but they shocked the league and finished first in the AFC North. Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals began to earn the support of every fan whose team was eliminated from the playoffs and week by week, win by win, their temporary fan base grew more and more. Now, the Bengals are set to play in the Super Bowl for the first time since 1988. The Bengals beat arguably the hottest team in the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes on Jan. 30, 2021 in the AFC Championship. 

Early in the game, KC dominated, forcing a quick three and out, followed by an effortlessly patient drive ending in a Tyreek Hill touchdown. The Bengals’ offense came out with a little more fire after this, but were unable to capitalize on their red-zone trip and had to settle for a field goal, making the game seven to three. When the Chiefs got the ball back, Mahomes connected on a 44-yard pass play to Mecole Hardman which set up a Travis Kelce touchdown, the Chiefs’ second of the game. After forcing another punt, the Chiefs continued their dominance with the ball, scoring a touchdown in just eight plays putting themselves up 21 to three. Burrow and his squad were finally able to get some quality offense going, with a couple of passes to Tee Higgins, followed by a big catch and run by Samaje Perine for a 41-yard touchdown. The Chiefs got the ball back with about a minute left in the half. They got down to the one-yard line but were unable to put any points on the board due to poor game management by Mahomes. Going into the break, the Bengals trailed 21-10. 

The Bengals’ defense stepped it up in the second half, forcing two punts on the first two Chiefs’ drives, followed by a field goal made by Evan McPherson. A few plays later would be the biggest defensive play of the day. Defensive lineman B.J. Hill got a hand on a Mahomes pass and ended up catching the interception. The Bengals got the ball with a short field down 21-13, with a chance to tie. Burrow brought them to the two-yard line and punched it in with a back-shoulder pass to Ja’Marr Chase. The Bengals’ coaching staff elected to go for the two-point conversion and completed it for the tie. After a few empty drives, the Bengals got it back and settled for a 52-yard field goal from McPherson for his third of regulation putting Cincinnati up 24-21. The Chiefs got the ball back with over six minutes left and seemed to be getting back into a groove offensively. However, they were unable to capitalize in the red-zone and kicked a field goal, their only three points of the entire half.

With the game tied, Mahomes and the Chiefs enter their second OT game in a row. KC won the coin toss and got the ball with the chance of scoring a touchdown to end the game like they did last week against the Bills. The Bengals had other plans though, forcing a third and ten and coming up with an interception. Then, to complete the miraculous comeback from down 21 to three, Joe Burrow led the young team down the field for a game-winning field goal. Now, the team coming off of a four and 11 season are the AFC champions and play the Rams in Super Bowl LVI.