The road to Super Bowl 56 in Los Angeles it is almost complete.
The Kansas City Chiefs will host the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday in the AFC championship game., marking a matchup of two teams with drastically different fortunes in recent years. The Chiefs will host the conference title game for the fourth straight year and are seeking their third straight trip to the Super Bowl, which would make them the fourth franchise in NFL history to pull off such a streak. Meanwhile, the Bengals ended their worst playoff wining drought in 31 years in early January and are looking to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1988 season.
The two teams already met in Week 17, with the Bengals posting a surprising 34-31 victory. Joe Burrow threw for 446 yards and four touchdowns to pace Cincinnati, while Pursuit of Ja’Marr he set an NFL single-game rookie record with 266 receiving yards. patrick mahomes he was limited to 259 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.
SELECTIONS:Will the Bengals or the Chiefs win the AFC championship game?
NFL PLAYOFFS:10 players who could play the last match with the current team on championship weekend
X-FACTORS:Which NFL players could decide the conference championship games?
USA TODAY Sports will have live updates, analysis and more from our NFL reporters and editors, including Jarrett Bell and Jori Epstein in Kansas City. Check back often for more information:
Bengals-Chiefs halftime stats
Patrick Mahomes completed 18 of 21 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns, while Joe Burrow managed just 101 yards and a touchdown on 10 of 18 passes.
Joe Mixon has 40 yards on eight carries, but has largely been left out of a 23-yard rush and a 12-yard rush.
Tyreek Hill has seven catches for 78 yards and a touchdown, while Travis Kelce has five catches for 55 yards and a touchdown.
The Chiefs have 292 total yards and average 8.8 yards per play, while the Bengals have 152 yards, which equates to 5.4 yards per play.
Bengals-Chiefs Score: Chiefs 21-10 at halftime
Kansas City seemed on the verge of another touchdown before a costly blunder.
Tyreek Hill committed a penalty against Eli Apple that set up Kansas City with the ball at the Bengals 1-yard line with 9 seconds remaining in the half. But after an incomplete first down, Patrick Mahomes threw Hill behind the line of scrimmage, and Apple brought down the speedy wide receiver as time ran out.
Kansas City will get the ball to start the second half.
Bengals-Chiefs Score: Kansas City 21-10 with 1:05 remaining in the second quarter
Cincinnati found a way to get back in the game.
On a second-and-12 with less than two minutes left, the Bengals ran a screen to Samaje Perine, who rushed 41 yards for the touchdown.
The play was the longest of the day for Cincinnati.
-Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
Bengals-Chiefs Score: Kansas City 21-3 with 5:04 remaining in the second quarter
The Chiefs make it look easy against the Bengals.
Patrick Mahomes once again marched Kansas City down the field, with Clyde Edwards-Helaire breaking up some key runs. On first-and-goal from the Bengals 3-yard line, Mahomes passed the ball to Mecole Hardman for an easy score.
Mahomes has thrown for three touchdowns with 154 yards on 13-of-14 passes.
-Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
Bengals offense off the charts
The Bengals could risk letting this game slip away from them.
The Kansas City defense forced another punt after allowing a first down on a 12-yard run by Joe Mixon.
Joe Burrow has missed his last five shots and pressure continues to be an issue. The right side of the offensive line is loosening up once again, with Chris Jones putting pressure on the third down and forcing a check on running back Samaje Perine, who went down incomplete.
-Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
Bengals-Chiefs Score: Kansas City 14-3 with 12:14 remaining in the second quarter
The Chiefs are confusing the Bengals’ defense early on.
After starting the second drive with a 31-yard drive to Mecole Hardman, Patrick Mahomes pulled a little more of his patented magic. On third-and-2 from the Bengals 5-yard line, Mahomes spun in the pocket to evade the run, rolled to the right and found Travis Kelce for a touchdown.
Kansas City has now scored on six straight possessions since their game against the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round.
-Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
Bengals-Chiefs Score: Kansas City 7-3 with 0:36 remaining in the first quarter
Cincinnati responded to Kansas City with a long drive of their own, but the Bengals had to settle for a field goal.
The Bengals drove 61 yards in 14 plays and had a chance to hit Ja’Marr Chase in the end zone, but the Chiefs broke up the connection attempt.
Evan McPherson then kicked the 32-yard field goal.
-Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
Bengals TE CJ Uzomah injured
Cincinnati missed one of its key goals on its second series when tight end CJ Uzomah injured his left knee.
Uzomah tied for the team lead last week with seven receptions and was expected to play an integral role for Cincinnati.
Ja’Marr Chase has drawn double coverage early and often, and the Bengals have looked to emphasize the middle game with Uzomah and slot target Tyler Boyd.
Uzomah was later taken to the locker room and it was considered doubtful to return.
-Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
Bengals-Chiefs Score: Kansas City 7-0 with 7:17 remaining in the first quarter
Patrick Mahomes had little trouble marching the Chiefs down the field to score on the team’s first drive.
Kansas City rushed for 84 yards in 11 plays, capped by a 10-yard touchdown to Tyreek Hill in the back right corner of the end zone.
Mahomes went to Hill often out of the gates, hitting all three of his targets for 24 yards and the touchdown.
It was the first time in Mahomes’ postseason career that he had thrown a touchdown pass on the opening drive.
-Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
Three and out for the Bengals on the first possession
Score one for the Kansas City defense.
The Chiefs held the Bengals at three and out on the game’s opening drive. On third-and-5, linebacker Willie Gay Jr. broke up a pass intended for tight end CJ Uzomah.
It wasn’t a bad start for a group that allowed Joe Burrow to throw for 446 yards in the previous game.
-Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
Weather Forecast for Bengals-Chiefs
It should be smooth sailing for the AFC championship game as the weather forecast calls for it to be 44 degrees and sunny for the entire game on Sunday.
Winds are expected to be light, with little effect on the kicking game.
Chiefs, Bengals idle
Tyrann Mathieu looks ready to go.
The Chiefs’ three-time Pro Bowl safety was not among the team’s inactives for Sunday’s AFC championship game against the Bengals. Kansas City’s inactives included QB Shane Buechele, CB DeAndre Baker, RB Derrick Gore, DE Joshua Kaindoh, OT Prince Tega Wanogho and DT Khalen Saunders.
The Bengals’ inactives are DE Cam Sample, DT Josh Tupou, CB Vernon Hargreaves, WR Stanley Morgan, WR Trenton Irwin, HB Trayveon Williams and OL Fred Johnson.
-Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
AFC Championship Game Showdown Preview
Do the Bengals have another surprise in store for them?
A week after upsetting the top-seeded Tennessee Titans, Cincinnati could face its toughest task yet in beating Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs for the second time this year.
The Chiefs were a unanimous pick among the USA TODAY Sports staff to win the conference title on Sunday, but there might be hope the Bengals pull off another upset.
Among the keys for the Bengals: Protecting Joe Burrow, who was sacked nine times in the divisional round.
For more information on the showdown and what to watch, see the full breakdown of keys to the game from the Cincinnati Enquirer.
How the Chiefs got here
Kansas City’s 42-36 divisional round victory over the Buffalo Bills it was so entertaining that it has to be revived (except for Bills fans).
An instant classic culminated in 25 points in the final two minutes of regulation, when Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen squared off in a quarterback duel for the ages.
With 13 seconds remaining, Mahomes managed to save Kansas City’s season by pushing the Chiefs downfield to set up Harrison Butker’s 49-yard field goal that forced overtime, where the quarterback gave his team the victory with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Travis Kelce. .
Was it the best playoff game of all time? USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis Ranked the 22 best postseason contests in NFL historyand Bills-Chiefs ranked very close to the top.
It also sparked a larger conversation about NFL overtime rules Y if they are fair.
The contest marked a clear change of pace from the No. 2 seed’s 42-21 wild card win over the Pittsburgh Steelerswhich turned out to be The end of Ben Roethlisberger’s career.
-Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
How the Bengals got here
Few expected fourth-seeded Cincinnati to make it this far.
After all, it took a last-minute position for the Bengals to end a 31-year playoff drought and beat the Las Vegas Raiders 26-19.
But Cincinnati turned heads with its divisional-round victory over the No. 1 seed Tennessee Titans, even though rookie kicker Evan McPherson needed to make a 52-yard field goal as time expired to clinch the win. For McPherson, there was no question that the kick would be a good one.
Now on Sunday, Burrow and the Bengals have another chance to shed your “underdog” tag.
-Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism