For the second consecutive year, the Cincinnati Bengals saw their season end at Arrowhead Stadium.
But instead of one game shy of the Super Bowl, this time, it was one game short of the season finale as the Kansas City Chiefs scored a 25-17 victory to eliminate the Bengals from the playoff race after the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steeles also won.
The Bengals blew a rare 10-point lead, failing to score over the final 36 minutes and 23 seconds of the game as Kansas City kicker Harrison Butker, whose walk-off field goal in last year’s AFC Championship Game sent the Chiefs to the Super Bowl, went on a personal 18-0 run with six field goals.
Cincinnati Bengals Observations From Loss at Kansas City
Soft Opening
The Bengals allowed an opening-drive touchdown for the third consecutive game and fourth time in the last five.
Kansas City needed just seven plays to go 75 yards and take a 7-3 lead on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Isiah Pacheco.
It was Pacheco who had the biggest play on the drive, a 35-yard run. The Chiefs also got an 18-yard chunk on a short catch and run by Rashee Rice.
The Bengals’ defense bowed up after that and didn’t allow another touchdown the rest of the game. But they did surrender the six Butker field goals.
Sizzling Opening
The Bengals’ offense scored on their first three possessions to build a 17-7 lead.
Their opening drive lasted 15 plays, matching their longest of the season, and ate up 8:39 of the clock, their third longest of the season time-wise.
It could have been much longer had the Bengals converted 3rd-and-10 at the Kansas City 20, but instead, they settled for an Evan McPherson field goal.
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But there was no settling on the next two drives as Browning led the offense into the end zone on both, hitting Joe Mixon for a seven-yard touchdown and then finishing things off himself with a 3rd-and-1 rollout before slamming into a couple of Kansas City defenders at the goal line.
It marked the first time this season the Bengals scored points on their opening three possessions. The last time the offense accomplished that was in the 2022 season finale against the Ravens.
New Offensive Approach
The Bengals came into the game intent on establishing the run to chew the clock and keep Patrick Mahomes off the field. That’s always a good plan, but the Bengals have struggled to run the ball all year. And really, for a few years now.
But they had 24 rushing attempts in the first half, the most they’ve ever had in the opening two quarters in the Zac Taylor era. The previous high was 21.
That's the 23rd rushing attempt for the #Bengals.
It's a new high first-half high in the Zac Taylor era: pic.twitter.com/c5KcPJ8ix3— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) December 31, 2023
The 24 first-half attempts were more than the Bengals had in the entire game in 11 of their 15 contests this season.
Cincinnati averaged 3.6 yards per attempt, gaining 86 yards prior to halftime to earn a 21:50 to 8:10 edge in time of possession.
They would finish with 32 carries for 104 yards.
Trey Hendrickson Extends Streak
Trey Hendrickson’s strip-sack of Patrick Mahomes in the second quarter extended his streak of games with at least a half-sack to eight. It’s four shy of the NFL record held by Jevon Kearse and three shy of Hendrickson’s franchise record that he set in 2021.
More importantly, the sack came on third down near the high red zone, giving the Bengals a short field at the Kansas City 24-yard line.
Cincinnati converted it into a one-yard touchdown run by Browning on third-and-goal for a 17-7 lead and a key 10-point lead. Coming into the game, the Bengals had won 18 consecutive games in which they had led by at least 10 points, and they were 27-2 in that situation in the Zac Taylor era.
Tee Higgins’ Hamstring
Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins re-injured his hamstring in the first quarter on a first-down reception that set up a field goal to cap the opening drive.
Higgins missed three games with a hamstring injury earlier this season, and the Bengals lost all three to the Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
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The Bengals originally announced Higgins as questionable to return, and it was early in the second quarter when he did, drawing a 30-yard pass interference penalty to put the Bengals in great shape to score.
But they didn’t because…
Another Fourth-Down Failure
Last week, the Bengals threw it on 4th-and-1 from the Pittsburgh 5-yard line and lost possession on an incompletion.
Today, they ran it on 4th-and-1 at the Kansas City 6-yard line, but they failed to block blitzing linebacker Willie Gay, who stoned Joe Mixon for a three-yard loss. It was the Bengals; best chance to score in the second half.
They wouldn’t cross midfield again until a 4th-and-18 conversion in the final minute, but back-to-back sacks ruined any hope of a final, game-tying drive.
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