AFC Championship, 2022: Kansas City 23 Cincinnati 20

Game information
Skyy Moore's 29-yard punt return set up a 45-yard field goal for Harrison Butker with 3 seconds left to send Kansas City to their third Super Bowl in the last four seasons.

Cincinnati had to punt on their opening drive, and Kadarius Toney's 12-yard return gave Kansas City the ball on their own 36 yard line. A pair of 16 yard completions from Patrick Mahomes to Isiah Pacheco set up Butker's 43-yard field goal to give the team an early 3–0 lead. The Bengals quickly had to punt again and KC storm back for another score, with Mahomes completing 6/8 passes for 69 yards as the team advanced to the Bengals 9-yard line. Pacheno scored on a touchdown run, but it was called back by a holding penalty and the Chiefs ended up settling for Butker's field 24-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter. Kansas City had dominated the game up to then, gaining 110 yards and six first downs, while holding Cincinnati to 0 yards and one first down, sacking quarterback Joe Burrow three times.

Cincinnati responded on their next drive, as Burrow converted a 3rd-and-14 with a 16-yard pass to Tyler Boyd, and later hit him for a 24-yard gain to set up Evan McPherson's 30-yard field goal that made the score 6–3. Kansas City stormed right back 75 yards in 10 plays, including a 29-yard completion from Mahomes to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. On the last play, he converted a 4th-and-1 with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Travis Kelce, giving the team a 13–3 lead. On the Bengals next drive, Burrow threw a pass that was intercepted by Jaylen Watson and returned 10 yards to the team's 39-yard line. However, their defense managed to force 3 incompletions and a punt, which Tommy Townsend sent out of bounds at the Bengals 5-yard line. Aided by a 20-yard pass interference penalty against Bryan Cook that negated an interception by Juan Thornhill, Burrow led Cincy 70 yards in 13 plays, completing 8/10 passes for 62 yards before McPherson's 20-yard field goal on the last play of the quarter sent the teams into their locker rooms with a score of 13–6.

After forcing the Chiefs to punt, Cincinnati tied the score on their first drive of the second half, moving the ball 62 yards in 9 plays and scoring on Burrow's 27-yard touchdown pass to Tee Higgins. But the Chiefs stormed right back to retake it at 20–13, with Mahomes completing 3 passes to Valdez-Scantling for 52 yards, the last a 19-yard touchdown completion on 3rd-and-10. After Cincinnati punted, Mahomes led the Chiefs to the Bengals 43-yard line. But with a minute left in the third quarter, he fumbled the ball while winding up for a pass without being touched. Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard recovered it on the KC 45-yard line. The team soon faced 4th-and-6 from the Chiefs 40, but Burrow managed to convert with a long pass to Ja'Marr Chase, who made a leaping catch between two defensive backs for a 35-yard gain. This set up Samaje Perine's 2-yard rushing score that tied the game at 20–20 with 13:35 left in the 4th quarter.

After a Bengals punt, Burrow was intercepted by Joshua Williams on the Cincinnati 14-yard line. Kansas City then drove a 3rd-and-12 on the Bengals 41. On the next play, Kansas City gained 4 yards and was penalized for holding. Rather than take the penalty, coach Zac Taylor decided to accept the results of the play, forcing Kansas City to decide on a punt or a long field goal. The Chiefs decided to punt, and got a big boost from Townshend, who kicked the ball out of bounds at the Bengals 6-yard line. Cincinnati subsequently droves to their own 35, featuring a 23-yard completion from Burrow to tight end Hayden Hurst on 3rd-and-16. But on 3rd-and-8, Burrow was sacked for an 8-yard loss by Chris Jones, forcing the team to punt the ball back to Kansas City with 40 seconds left on the clock.

Skyy Moore returned Drue Chrisman's 54-yard punt 29 yards to the Chiefs 47-yard line. On the next play, Mahomes completed a pass to Pacheco for 6 yards. Then when faced with 3rd-and-4 with 17 seconds left, Mahomes scrambled 5 yards for a first down. Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai was penalized 15 yards for shoving Mahomes after he stepped out of bounds, giving Kansas City another 15 yards on the end of the run. Now with just 8 seconds left, Butker's 45-yard field goal gave the team a 23–20 win.

Playing on an injured ankle, Mahomes completed 29/43 passes for 326 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also rushing for 8 yards. Valdez-Scantling was the top receiver of the game with 6 receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown. Kelce had 7 catches for 78 yards and a score. Townsend planted 3 of his 4 punts inside the 20. Burrow completed 26/41 passes for 270 yards and a touchdown. He was also the team's leading rusher with 4 carries for 30 yards, but was intercepted twice and sacked 5 times. Higgins was the Bengals leading receiver with 6 receptions for 83 yards and a touchdown.

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