ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals threw a major wrench into the highly anticipated travel plans of the Buffalo Bills, their fans and maybe even the NFL front office.
Burrow threw two touchdown passes and Cincinnati’s defense swarmed Josh Allen on a snow-licked field in a 27-10 win Sunday to send the Bengals to the AFC Championship Game for the second year in a row.
And it will be in Kansas City again — instead of Atlanta, the neutral site where the game would have been if Buffalo had beaten Cincinnati.
“Better send those refunds,” Burrow said, referring to the 50,000 or so tickets already sold for a game that will never be played.
“See you in Atlanta,” a Bengals player was heard sarcastically yelling as the team made its way to the locker room, where cornerback Eli Apple and a couple of teammates were conducting interviews while smoking cigars.
The Bengals went into the game already feeling disrespected when the NFL began selling tickets to a prospective game in Atlanta, which was contingent on the Bills and Chiefs winning this weekend.
The league decided on the first-of-its-kind neutral site for conference championships as the Bills (13-3) finished the season a half game behind the Chiefs (14-3) after their game in Cincinnati was canceled on Jan. 2 when Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and had to be revived in the field.
Hamlin’s inspirational presence watching the game from an end-zone suite wasn’t enough to get the Bills going.
Instead, it was “Joe Cool” who showed poise as he played in a persistent snowfall.
Burrow completed his first nine passes for 105 yards as Cincinnati raced to a 14-0 lead after its first two possessions. Ja’Marr Chase opened the scoring with a 28-yard TD catch 3:20 into the game, followed by Burrows’ 15-yard TD toss to Hayden Hurst eight minutes later. Joe Mixon scored on a 1-yard run, and Evan McPherson made field goals from 20 and 28 yards in a game the Bengals never trailed.
“The bigger the moment, the calmer he gets,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said of Burrow, who improved his playoff record to 5-1. “Our guys believe. They go on the field ready to attack.”
Cincinnati advanced to back-to-back AFC Championship games for the first time in franchise history and will be preparing for a rematch of last year’s title game. The Bengals defeated Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs 27-24 to advance to last year’s Super Bowl, which they lost to the Los Angeles Rams.
“It’s going to be a fun one,” said Burrow, who went 23 of 36 for 242 yards Sunday. “Two of the best in the league, two of the best teams in the league, great defense, great teams overall, great coaches.”
Cincinnati has won the last three meetings against Kansas City, including a 27-24 victory last month. The Chiefs are making their fifth straight AFC Championship game appearance after a 27-20 victory over Jacksonville on Saturday.
The Bills’ playoff run ended in the divisional round for a second straight season, including a 42-36 overtime loss to Kansas City last year.
Bills receiver Stefon Diggs was so upset that he was seen leaving the locker room with much of his equipment on shortly after the game ended before being persuaded by a teammate to return.
“He’s a competitive guy. What makes him good is what you saw,” coach Sean McDermott said of Diggs. “It hurts. I wouldn’t want a guy who doesn’t hurt. We put it all on the line out there and tonight it wasn’t good enough.”
It was a dud of an outing for the Bills, who began the season with Super Bowl aspirations, and eventually ran out of emotional and physical gas. Aside from the stunning sight of Hamlin’s collapse, the Bills had their schedule twice interrupted by severe winter storms.
Injuries also played a problem. The Bills’ pass rush, missing Von Miller since suffering a season-ending knee injury in November, generated very little pressure against a Bengals offensive line that was missing three starters due to injuries.
“We expected their best shot and they came out and beat us,” said Allen, who finished 25 of 42 for 265 yards, scoring on a 1-yard plunge. “We just didn’t have it today.”
The Bengals mixed in their running offense to keep the Bills off balance in a first half in which Cincinnati outgained Buffalo in total yards by a margin of 274-135 and 412-325 overall. Mixon’s 105 yards rushing alone was 1 less than the Bengals combined in their last two games, both against Baltimore.
“Domination from start to finish,” added Burrow. “It was what we expected. The job is not done.”
The Bengals held one of the NFL’s premier offenses to a season-low 10 points. And the unit got a chance to celebrate by making snow angels in the end zone after Cam Taylor-Britt intercepted Allen’s goal-line attempt to essentially end the game with 62 seconds left.
Hamlin was wheeled into the stadium in a security vehicle and led directly into the Bills’ locker room about an hour before kickoff. He was later joined by his mother, Nina, and younger brother, Damir. He watched the game from a suite in one end zone and was pictured on the video board at the 2-minute warning in the first half, with Cincinnati facing second-and-goal at Buffalo’s 5.
Hamlin raised the arms of his suite to a roar of cheers, before making a heart sign with his hands. The Bills limited the Bengals to one field goal and trailed 17-7 at the half.
“We’ll be back,” Hamlin tweeted a few hours after the game. “Don’t even trip.”
STREAKS AND STATISTICS
The Bengals extended their franchise-best streak to 10 straight wins. They haven’t lost since a 32-13 defeat in Cleveland on Halloween. The Bengals’ 30 first downs were a franchise postseason record.
They were the most allowed by the Bills since allowing 30 in last year’s playoff loss at Kansas City.
The Bills fell to 13-2 when hosting an NFL playoff game. And they were 4-0 under McDermott.
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