The Kansas City Chiefs broke the hearts of Cincinnati Bengals fans again thanks to a 25:17 home win.
The Bengals needed to win and hope for a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers to make the playoffs.
Quarterback Jake Browning's efforts in Joe Burrow's absence were inadequate. Ohio State University star receiver Ja'Marr Chase had a tough game with a 41-yarder.
However, Chase downplayed the talent of the Chiefs' defense a few days ago, mentioning that “it wasn't like the team had a Jalen Ramsey in the lineup” to contain him.
With the Bengals leading 17-7 in the second quarter, the referees had to put an end to the scuffle that had begun between Chase and some Chiefs players.
The incident seemed to wake up Kansas City afterward. In an interview with NBC, quarterback Patrick Mahomes praised the defense.
“We didn’t have the season we were hoping for, but at the end of the day we are NFC West champions,” he said. […] The defense did an excellent job. All we had to do was put points on the board so they could finish the job.”
“I lost the ball in the first half and it hurt us [en échappant le ballon]“But if it wasn’t for that, I think we would have played well offensively,” he continued.
Mahomes completed 245 yards passing and a touchdown in the victory. The Chiefs face the Chargers next Sunday in Los Angeles.
On vacation soon
Elsewhere on Sunday, the Broncos tried to stay alive, but their 16-9 win in Denver over the Chargers wasn't enough.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' 30-23 victory over the Seattle Seahawks eliminated the Broncos, who trusted center Jarrett Stidham. Denver has decided to bench quarterback Russell Wilson.
Stidham finished with 224 yards, completed 20 of his 32 pass attempts and threw one touchdown pass.
“I was really excited to get started,” Stidham said in an interview after the win. This was my third chance in five years. I wanted to play with emotions and achieve victory.
“It feels good to get my first win in the NFL,” he added. But the most important thing was our eighth win of the season. […] Elimination does not change the situation. We achieved our goal of winning. Of course it's a shame to be eliminated, but our goal will be to get another win this week.