Burrow comes up short of leading Bengals back to Super Bowl

Updated Jan. 29, 2023 10:48 p.m. ET

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Joe Cool's calm demeanor for the Cincinnati Bengals melted on a frigid night against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The brilliant Bengals quarterback was sacked five times, threw two interceptions and was unable to drive downfield late in the fourth quarter of the AFC title game. That gave the Chiefs a chance in the closing seconds, and Patrick Mahomes made the Bengals pay, setting up Harrison Butker's last-second field goal in a 23-20 victory Sunday night.

The Bengals came in having beaten the Chiefs by three points three straight times, including last year's AFC title game.

Burrow finished with 270 yards passing and a touchdown, though the two picks were costly. He also was penalized for intentional grounding on the Bengals' last possession, then was sacked by Chris Jones on third down. Cincinnati was forced to punt the ball back to Kansas City with 41 seconds to go — plenty of time for Mahomes.

The All-Pro quarterback scrambled for a first down with 8 seconds left, and was pushed late out of bounds by Bengals linebacker Joseph Ossai. That was enough to give Butker an opportunity to kick the winning field goal.

“We’re not going to make it about one play,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said of Ossai's penalty. “There was plenty of plays we left on the field today that could have put us in a better position.”

So much for “Burrowhead Stadium" — the name some Bengals had taken to calling the home of the Chiefs. Theirs was the only QB to beat Mahomes three straight times, and in fact, Burrow was 3-0 against the mighty AFC West champs.

Burrow had been exceptional all season, setting Cincinnati records for pass attempts and completions along with his 35 touchdown passes. And his performance against the Chiefs in early December was vintage: Joe Cool was 25 of 31 for 286 yards passing, two touchdowns and no picks in his third straight triumph over them.

Perhaps most important, the Chiefs only sacked him once in Cincinnati.

But after putting together three failed game plans trying to stop Burrow and the Bengals, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo changed things up Sunday night. He knew they were missing two starting offensive linemen, and that center Ted Karras was dealing with a bum knee, so he began to blitz almost from the opening snap.

Frank Clark was the first to bring Burrow down on the game's fifth play, forcing the Bengals to punt. Clark combined with Willie Gay Jr. for a sack on the second play of their next possession, then Jones got to Burrow — the first postseason sack of his superlative career — to force a second consecutive punt.

Burrow was rattled and it was evident. He had minus-9 yards passing in the first quarter; the Bengals had minus-10 yards of total offense.

He mostly settled down in the second quarter, though, leading the Bengals on a 63-yard drive that ended with a field goal to get within 6-3. And Burrow added a near-flawless 90-yard drive to end the half, though that also netted just a field goal, and the AFC North champions headed to the locker room trailing 13-6.

Burrow regained his cool in the second half. And quickly went to work.

After the Bengals forced a three-and-out, he led them on a 62-yard scoring drive to tie the game 13-all. It included a nifty draw through a huge hole in the Kansas City defense to convert on third down and a tough TD throw to Tee Higgins.

When the Chiefs answered with a 77-yard scoring drive to regain the lead, Burrow fought right back. He connected with Ja'Marr Chase for 35 yards on fourth-and-6 for a first down before Samaje Perine's TD tied the game again.

Burrow simply couldn't keep making plays when the Bengals needed them down the stretch.

The Chiefs' defense had a lot to do with it, too.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

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Joe Burrow

National Football League

Cincinnati Bengals

Joseph Ossai

Harrison Butker

Joe Burrow

Cincinnati Bengals

Kansas City Chiefs