Cincinnati’s playoff victory drought, which dated back to the 1990 season, wasn’t just the longest in football. The 31-year streak was the longest in all of North American professional sports. But streaks are meant to be ended, and that’s exactly what happened on Saturday afternoon as the Bengals held on for a win in the wild-card round against the Las Vegas Raiders.
However, it didn’t come easy. After stopping quarterback Joe Burrow and the offense with just under two minutes to play, the Raiders had some time despite being out of timeouts. Quarterback Derek Carr led them down the field, but after converting on a third and 17 earlier in the possession, Las Vegas faced a do-or-die scenario on fourth and goal from the Cincinnati nine.
I’ll let Bengals radio broadcasters Dan Hoard and Dave Lapham tell you what happened next.
As called on Bengals radio: pic.twitter.com/Gw46t7JeLU
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 16, 2022
A desperation pass from Carr into triple coverage, which was intended for receiver Zay Jones, was jumped by Cincinnati linebacker Germaine Pratt for an interception that effectively ended this game. All that was left to do to officially end the notorious streak was a kneel-down from Burrow as the second-year quarterback and his college receiver in Ja’Marr Chase have rapidly reversed this franchise’s fortunes.
The Bengals will face one of four potential opponents in the divisional round. Depending on the other results in the AFC, they could play the Bills, Patriots, Chiefs or Titans next weekend. Cincy would likely be underdogs in any of those matchups, but fans in southern Ohio will hope that the most memorable season in decades has a few more surprises in store.
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