Bengals Head To AFC Title Game After Eliminating Tennessee Titans

The Cincinnati Bengals continue on in the playoffs after defeating the Tennessee Titans last night 19-16. The Titans finish their season after a divisional-round loss for a second straight year and end their season with a 12-5 record. Meanwhile, the Bengals head into the AFC Championship against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The thrill of victory.

Let’s keep this thing going. pic.twitter.com/Q8XHfCQ6Ei

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) January 23, 2022

What Went Down

Bengals kicker and former Gator Evan McPherson grabbed his team a solid start in the first quarter with two field goals to put the score at 6-0. The Titans responded in the second quarter by tying up the game after Derrick Henry rushed for a three-yard touchdown. But, McPherson put his team in the lead before entering halftime after kicking a 54-yard field goal to put the score at 9-6.

Cincinnati further solidified their lead after the half when Joe Mixon rushed up the middle for a 16-yard touchdown. Then, a field goal by Titans Randy Bullock put Tennessee back on the board again. Finally, the Titans made a game-tying comeback when Ryan Tannehill passed to A.J Brown for a 33-yard touchdown to put the score at 16-16.

All signs pointed to the game heading into overtime, but the Bengals managed to avoid that in the final few seconds of the fourth. Logan Wilson snagged an interception to put Evan McPherson in field goal position. A 52-yard kick from McPherson with four seconds on the clock sent the Bengals to their first AFC Championship game since 1988.

Joe Burrow threw for 348 yards and can be credited for the completed passes that were able to put McPherson in position four times. On the leaderboard, Ja’Marr Chase grabbed five receptions for 109 yards while Tee Higgins had seven completed passes for 96 yards.

The AFC Championship game will take place this Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. The Kansas City Chiefs went 12 and 5 in the regular season and defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers (42-21) and Buffalo Bills (42-36) in the playoffs.