The Kansas City Chiefs outscored the Cincinnati Bengals 18-0 down the stretch on six Harrison Butker field goals to clinch the AFC West title on New Year’s Eve.
Kansas City Rallies To Beat Cincinnati, Clinch Eighth Straight AFC West Title
Though it wasn’t pretty, the Chiefs clinched their eighth straight AFC West title in a close one against the Bengals as they came away with a 25-17 win at Arrowhead Stadium.
Their division title streak, which began in 2016, is the second longest in NFL history behind only the New England Patriots, who won the AFC East for 11 consecutive seasons from 2009 through 2019.
The 10-6 Chiefs’ path to the top of the AFC West looked a bit different this season as they were no longer the consistently high-scoring team that they’ve been under quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The Chiefs got out to a 6-1 start this season and it appeared that another division championship would be certain, but the Chiefs then lost four of six games and the Denver Broncos trimmed Kansas City’s lead in the AFC West to one game.
The Chiefs were finally able to secure the division title against the Bengals one week after failing to do so in a Christmas Day loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. The win also eliminated the Bengals and the Broncos from the playoffs.
The game opened with a strong start for the Chiefs as they had a 75-yard opening drive that ended with a touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Isiah Pacheco. That was the only time in the matchup that they would find the end zone.
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After the Bengals answered with a touchdown, the Chiefs turned the ball over on their next possession on a strip sack of Mahomes. The Bengals then took a 17-7 lead that the Chiefs cut to 17-13 at halftime.
Butker successfully kicked four second-half field goals to extend a personal 18-0 scoring run over the Bengals as Kansas City shut out Cincinnati in the second half.
The Bengals had the chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter after Butker’s sixth field goal extended Kansas City’s lead to 25-17.
The Bengals converted a 4th-and-18 after Justin Reid sacked Jake Browning at the Cincinnati 38-yard line, but Chiefs defenders sacked Browning two more times to force a 4th-and-27 that the Bengals could not convert. The stop allowed the Chiefs to run out the clock and take home the win.
Mahomes finished the game completing 21 of 29 passes for 245 yards with a touchdown. His first-quarter fumble was the only turnover of the game. Rashee Rice was his top target with four catches for 127 yards.
All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce’s struggles continued in the matchup. He didn’t have a catch at halftime and finished the game with three catches for 16 yards. The game was his third straight with fewer than 50 yards receiving.
The Chiefs limited Cincinnati to 263 yards of total offense on 3.7 yards per play. They sacked Browning six times, including four on the critical final Bengals drive that ended on downs.
With the win, the Chiefs clinched the No. 3 seed in the AFC, meaning next week’s regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers is meaningless. They will have the opportunity to rest key players before hosting a Wild Card Round game in Kansas City.
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