MACON, Ga. — It wasn’t meant to be. The 2022 Cincinnati Bengals season was a success, but it was not meant for this team to be a team of destiny. The Bengals fell 23-20 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship, ending a terrific season full of triumph, tragedy and a whole lot of fun. Here are nine reactions from last night’s AFC Championship.
1. The better team won. The better quarterback won. That’s as simple as it gets. Tip your cap to Patrick Mahomes. Playing with a high-ankle sprain, the soon-to-be-named MVP was tremendous in throwing for 326 yards and two touchdowns. It’s one of the guttiest performances in NFL postseason history, and Mahomes reminded everybody why he is still the best quarterback in football.
2. Don’t blame the refs. You can acknowledge they were bad, and I agree. But they did not cost the Bengals the game.
3. You know what cost the Bengals the game? Not scoring a touchdown on either of their two red zone trips in the first half. Not scoring on either fourth quarter possession with the game tied at 20. I always say don’t put yourselves in a position where the refs have to be perfect for you to win. Even then, refs do not cost teams the game.
4. I thought Joe Burrow played a valiant game. He was under duress all night, and he still had the Bengals in position to win the game. It’s one thing about Joe Burrow. Even when he’s being swarmed all game, he is still going to will the Bengals to be in position to win the game late.
5. The offensive line struggled, and their lack of depth finally caught up to them. Playing against a Chiefs defensive line out to finally finish the job against Joe Burrow, the Bengals gave up five sacks including one on their final offensive play. In a season where the hope was the Bengals would have an improved offensive line, their first and final offensive plays of the season ended in sacks.
6. All season, the Bengals embraced the role of the underdog. But in the week leading up to the AFC Championship, it was the Bengals, their fans, and their city’s mayor- just why?- who did the talking. And when you give a team you’ve beaten three straight times any extra motivation, you get what you get.
7. The Bengals season was a success. They came up short of redemption, but given all the adversity and expectations they faced this season getting this far is an incredible accomplishment. They have now arrived, and the future looks really bright. They are not in any way a fluke.
8. That said, there will be pressure on this team next season, and for the rest of Joe Burrow’s career, to win a Super Bowl. The Bengals have arrived to the point where they are subjected to Super Bowl pressure not just inside the organization but from the outside noise from the local and national levels.
9. This is Patrick Mahomes’s first time beating Joe Burrow. This quarterback rivalry is now on, and it very well might be the next Brady-Manning rivalry. If these two quarterbacks keep playing at the level they’re playing at, this rivalry may go another 10 to 15 years.
Let me be Frank and Cut to the Chase 