The Kansas City Chiefs were guided to an overtime victory against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Divisional Round due to a coin flip. The same almost happened in the AFC Championship Game when they faced the Cincinnati Bengals.
After Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense failed to score a touchdown while in the Bengals’ red zone, kicker Harrison Butker kicked and made a 44-yard field goal as time expired in regulation to tie the score, sending the game to overtime.
During the overtime coin toss, the Bengals called heads, but it was tails. So, for the second-straight week, Kansas City had won the coin toss after regulation.
Cincinnati calls tails as it did to start the game.
Cincinnati loses the toss as it did to start the game.
Buffalo called tails last week in OT and lost the coin toss as well.
Take away: The @Chiefs are money.
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Josh Allen Reacts to Overtime Coin Toss
One Bills player took to Twitter to react to Kansas City’s luck prevailing for a second consecutive playoff game. That player was quarterback Josh Allen, who tweeted out one word.
“Pain.”
Allen at that point could sympathize with the Bengals regarding what they were experiencing. However, the outcome of the game ended up being very different for Cincinnati than what Allen had gone through just a week prior.
Chiefs Lost to Bengals in Heartbreaking Fashion
The Chiefs’ offense hit the ground running in the AFC Championship Game. Kansas City’s first three offensive possessions resulted in touchdowns, which gave them a 21-10 lead at halftime. However, Cincinnati climbed back into the game, scoring 20 unanswered points, which started with a touchdown in the second quarter along with consecutive possessions for the Chiefs right before and after halftime that resulted in zero points scored.
The Chiefs were then put in a situation where they needed to score at least three points on their final offensive drive of regulation to avoid elimination, which they did with the Butker field goal.
After winning the overtime coin toss, Mahomes was intercepted on a deep ball to Tyreek Hill on 3rd & 10. That put the Bengals in a position to win the game via a touchdown or field goal. After nine plays and 42 yards gathered by Cincinnati’s offense on the ensuing drive, kicker Evan McPherson sealed the victory for the Bengals by making a 31-yard field goal.
EVAN MCPHERSON SENDS CINCY TO THE SUPER BOWL. #NFLPlayoffs #RuleTheJungle
Mahomes finished the game completing 26-of-39 pass attempts for 275 yards and three touchdowns, while also throwing two interceptions. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow completed 23-of-38 pass attempts for 250 yards and two touchdowns, and also had one interception.
“There was a few misreads here and there. There were guys that were open that I didn’t hit it at the right time, or I passed up on something shorter for something I wanted deeper down the field,” Mahomes explained of why he struggled during the second half during his postgame press conference.
“When you’re playing a good team and you don’t hit what’s there and you try to get a little bit more than what’s necessary, it kind of bites you in the butt I guess you would say. It’s something that we were playing so well in the first half and in the second half we were just off a tick and sometimes that’s all it takes to lose a football game.”
Kansas City’s 2021-22 season ends with a 12-5 regular-season record, an AFC West Title, and an AFC Championship appearance for a fourth straight season. The Bengals advance to the Super Bowl and will face the the Los Angeles Rams, who beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in the NFC Championship Game.
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Josh Allen Has Viral Reaction to Chiefs Winning OT Coin Toss vs. Bengals