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- The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game
- A questionable call prevented the Chiefs from a turnover on the final drive
- Read more NFL news here
The Kansas City Chiefs blew a 21-3 first half lead in Sunday’s AFC Championship game to fall to the Bengals 27-24 in an overtime upset. The Chiefs have plenty to be angry about following the contest, mostly concerning their lack of offensive production in the second half.
Patrick Mahomes and Co. scored just three points over the final two quarters and overtime after jumping out to an 18-point first half lead. They mustered just 112 yards in that unproductive second half, a shocking development considering Kansas City’s dominance over the first two weeks of the playoffs.
Kansas City notched 42 points against both the Steelers and the Bills and seemed well on their way to another offensive explosion after the first half of Sunday’s matchup. Unfortunately for Andy Reid’s bunch, the scoring vanished in the third and fourth periods.
Now, the Chiefs clearly have no excuse for the late game implosion against a team and quarterback making their first postseason run, but there was one questionable no call on the game’s final drive that could’ve changed the outcome.
Take a look below.
Joe Mixon fumbled in overtime and the Chiefs recovered. Mixon didn’t give himself up, he stumbled, stood up and dropped the ball. That’s a fumble. NFL Refs missed this one pic.twitter.com/kxtzEorVqi
— Mitch Trubisky Fan Account (@NajeeSZN2022) January 30, 2022
On the Bengals’ lone overtime drive, Joe Mixon appeared to fumble deep in Kansas City territory. It wasn’t an obvious call due to the fact that Mixon fell to the ground. But in the NFL, you must be touched down for the play to be dead. That doesn’t look like it happens on this play.
Instead, Mixon gets up not knowing that the play could still be live and drops the ball, which is then clearly recovered by a Chiefs defender.
Andy Reid attempted to challenge the call but could not since the referees prematurely blew the play dead.
Cincinnati would go on to kick the game winning field goal later in the drive to secure a spot in the Super Bowl. Kansas City will be left thinking “what if” following a blown opportunity in the AFC Title Game.