The Kansas City Chiefs looked poised for a third straight trip to the Super Bowl. They were up 21-3 over the Cincinnati Bengals, were at home, and Patrick Mahomes was wreaking havoc outsideof the pocket.
Cinci’s Shell Coverage did little to bother Andy Reid’s explosive offense. Mahomes was extending plays left and right, hitting Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce in stride in the first half and putting up a big show.
But all momentum changed when the Bengals got a huge stop as the first-half clock expired. It was all Cincinnati from there on, with Joe Burrow proving again that he’s one of the most special talents we’ve seen lately.
Patrick Mahomes Blames Himself For Tough Loss To Bengals
The Bengals ended up taking home a 27-24 overtime win and punching their ticket to the Super Bowl. Then, after the game, Pat Mahomes took the blame for how things ended up for his team:
“I mean when you’re up 21-3 at one point in the game, you can’t lose it, and I put that on myself,” Mahomes told The Athletic.“We were playing so well in the first half, and the second half we were just off a tick, and that’s all it takes to lose a football game. I mean, a few plays here and there, you could have four chances at the Super Bowl. So I mean it’s definitely disappointing, but we have to learn from it. You can’t let this end what we have here.”
“They just had a spy on me, for the most part, and I’ve usually done a good job getting around that guy, but they had a good game plan,” Mahomes added. “They were doing a lot of similar stuff in the first half, we were just executing at a higher level. They stayed with it. But I mean, I gotta be better.”
Mahomes made a couple of avoidable mistakes late in the game. He tried to do too much instead of getting rid of the football and it eventually cost his team. Now, it’ll be up to ‘Joey Shiesty’ to finish the job and give the Bengals their first-ever Super Bowl win.
