Joe Burrow threw two touchdown passes and Cincinnati’s defense swarmed Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen on a snow-slicked field in a 27-10 win Sunday to send the Bengals to the AFC championship game for the second straight year.
And it’ll be in Kansas City again — instead of in Atlanta, the neutral site where the game would’ve been played if Buffalo had beaten Cincinnati.
The Bengals entered the game already feeling disrespected when the NFL began selling tickets for a would-be game at Atlanta, that was dependent on the Bills and Chiefs winning this weekend.
The league decided on the first of its kind conference championship neutral site setting because the Bills (13-3) finished the season a half-game behind the Chiefs (14-3) after their game at Cincinnati was canceled on Jan. 2 when Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated on the field.
Cincinnati advanced to consecutive AFC championship games for the first time in franchise history and will prepare for a rematch of last year’s title game. The Bengals defeated Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs 27-24 to advance to last year’s Super Bowl, which they lost to the Los Angeles Rams.
Hobbling along on an injured ankle, Patrick Mahomes threw for 195 yards and two touchdowns Saturday, leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a 27-20 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars and a spot in their fifth straight AFC title game.
Mahomes missed most of the second quarter after his ankle was landed on by a Jacksonville defender. But the All-Pro quarterback returned in the second half and led the Chiefs on a 75-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that helped to ensure a rematch with the Bengals for a spot in the Super Bowl.
The AFC title game will be played at Arrowhead Stadium.
**On Sunday, the team doctor found that Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain. The nature of the injury to Mahomes’ right ankle was confirmed by an MRI, which showed no other damage,
Travis Kelce had a career-high 14 catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns for Kansas City. Isiah Pacheco ran for 95 yards, while Marquez Valdes-Scantling hauled in the eventual clinching touchdown with about 7 minutes left in the game.
The Jaguars, who rallied from a 27-0 deficit to beat the Chargers in the wild-card round, squandered two chances to mount another late rally. The first ended when Jamal Agnew had the ball pop loose inside the Chiefs 5 with about 5 1/2 minutes to go, and the second when Jaylen Watson made a leaping, one-handed interception to take the ball away again.
Trevor Lawrence finished with 217 yards passing with a touchdown toss to Christian Kirk. Travis Etienne added 62 yards rushing and a touchdown.
Christian McCaffrey scored on a go-ahead 2-yard run in the fourth quarter and San Francisco’s defense held on to send the 49ers to their second straight NFC title game with a 19-12 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
The 49ers used back-to-back long scoring drives in the second half to wear down the Cowboys and win their 12th straight game. San Francisco advanced to play the Eagles in the NFC title game next Sunday in Philadelphia after losing in that round to the Rams a year ago.
The Cowboys lost for the record seventh straight time in the divisional round and have failed to make it to the NFC title game since winning their fifth Super Bowl title following the 1995 season.
Dak Prescott threw two interceptions and Brett Maher missed his fifth extra point of the postseason when his attempt was blocked. He later made two field goals.
Brock Purdy, the last pick in the draft last April, improved to 7-0 as a starter since replacing an injured Jimmy Garoppolo early in Week 13. He went 18 for 28 for 215 yards with no turnovers against the Cowboys, joining Joe Flacco (2008) and Mark Sanchez (2009) as the only rookie QBs to win two playoff starts.
Jalen Hurts tossed two touchdown passes and ran for a score during a dominant first half, and the Philadelphia Eagles overwhelmed the New York Giants 38-7 on Saturday night in an NFC divisional playoff game.
Top-seeded Philadelphia will host the NFC championship game Sunday against San Francisco.
Philadelphia’s offensive line opened big holes for Miles Sanders and Kenneth Gainwell as the Eagles finished with 268 yards on the ground.
Hurts finished 16 of 24 for 154 yards.
Matt Brieda had an 8-yard TD run for the Giants in the third quarter. Daniel Jones was 15 of 27 for 135 yards and a pick.
