The Cincinnati Bengals are headed to the AFC Championship Game. Despite starting signal caller Joe Burrow getting sacked nine times, Cincinnati was able to take down the 1-seed Tennessee Titans in Nashville on Saturday evening, 19-16, to secure the first road playoff win in franchise history.
It looked like Cincinnati was going to face quite the uphill battle. Beyond the fact that their offensive line struggled mightily against the Titans front, the Bengals were forced to punt with 2:43 left in a tied game, meaning Tennessee could make its way down the field and pick up a win in regulation.
Tennessee opted to be ultra-conservative as a result, mixing runs and short passes together and finding itself facing third-and-5 from its own 40. Ryan Tannehill dropped back and looked to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, but the pass was tipped and fell into the arms of Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson.
THE BENGALS INTERCEPT IT WITH 20 SECONDS LEFT. #NFLPlayoffs
— NFL (@NFL) January 23, 2022
With 20 seconds left and two timeouts on the board, the Bengals had some time to get the ball down the field if Burrow could stay upright. It took them exactly one play to do that, as Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase for a 19-yard gain to get the team deep enough into Titan territory. After getting the ball where standout rookie kicker Evan McPhearson wanted it, the former Florida standout lined up for his fourth field goal attempt of the game, and his 52-yard attempt was dang near perfect.
EVAN MCPHERSON. A ROOKIE.
THE @BENGALS ADVANCE! #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/B6QsNNNhyX
— NFL (@NFL) January 23, 2022
Now, the Bengals will sit back and wait to see where they’re headed next week — the team will travel to either Buffalo or Kansas City for the AFC Championship Game as the lower-seeded team. Before then, the Bills will travel to play the Chiefs on Sunday evening.
Source: https://uproxx.com/sports/bengals-beat-titans-nfl-playoffs-logan-wilson-ryan-tannehill-highlights-video/
