Sunday afternoon was the playoff matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs, hosting the Cincinnati Bengals for the AFC championship. The winner would go on to play the winner of the NFC championship game at Super Bowl 56.

The game started off as most would expect when you give Patrick Mahomes the ball. The Chiefs drove the ball all the way down the field and scored on their first drive with a touchdown pass Tyreek Hill. From that point on the Chiefs did not slow down. the chiefs scored on back-to-back drives with a touchdown from Travis Kelce and Mecole Hardman to put them up 21-3 in the second quarter. After failing to score in multiple drives during the first half, the Bengals were able to get  it last minute touchdown and before the end of the half with a 41 yard run by Samaje Perine. This ended that half with a score of 21-10 with the Chiefs still up.

 The third quarter was very much of a defensive standoff between both teams. That was of course until Patrick Mahomes threw an interception that was picked off defense tackle B.J. Hill with two minutes left in the quarter. That play was definitely the boost that the Bengals needed as Joe Burrow marched his team down the field and threw a contested back shoulder fade to his favorite target, Ja’Marr Chase for a touchdown. Instead of kicking the field goal the Bengals decided to go for a two-point conversion in which they were successful. This tide the game 21-21.

Joe Burrow gave Bengals fans a scare when he threw an interception at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Luckily their defense was able to stop the Chiefs from converting that interception into any points. The Bengals were playing much more dominant this half but unfortunately could only put up a field goal which did however put them up 24-21 on the Chiefs With six minutes left in the game. After using all of that time to drive the RedZone territory, the Bengals were able to hold off the Chiefs to just a field goal which sent the game to overtime.

The chiefs won the coin toss and started with the ball in overtime. However, their drive was ruined when Patrick Mahomes was picked off by Vonn Bell on 3rd down to give the Bengals the ball back. The Bengals did not squander this moment as running back Joe Mixon rushed for 28 of the team’s final 42 yards to set up his team for a game winning field goal. The Bengals were victorious over the Chiefs with a final score of 27-24. They are now the AFC champions and will face the NFC champions the Los Angeles Rams at Super Bowl 56.