The Cincinnati Bengals played their hearts out against the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game but fell short of the mark in three key areas. Turnovers gave the Chiefs far too many opportunities to make the plays necessary to get out to a fourth-quarter lead, and despite some big plays throughout the game, the Bengals just couldn’t seem to keep momentum.
Joe Burrow looked rattled at times against Kansas City’s resurgent pass rush, and it would seem that all of Cincinnati’s trash talk this week was for naught as their season came down to a failed hook and ladder on a kickoff return as time expired.
They fought hard but fell short. Here are three factors that led to the Bengals’ loss to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday: