Kansas City rallied from a 10-point deficit to take a lead in the fourth quarter and shut down the Bengals in the second half to seal a 25-17 win Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. The Bengals (8-8) were officially eliminated from the postseason picture with the defeat.
Cleveland (11-5), which Cincinnati hosts in the regular-season finale next week, clinched the No. 5 seed in the AFC.
The Chiefs (10-6) had lost three straight games at home and four of their last six games overall, but the defending Super Bowl champions claimed the AFC West title with the win Sunday and assured a return to the postseason. They did it by holding Cincinnati to 80 yards of offense in the second half.
Cincinnati was moving the ball well, particularly in the running game, early on as Jake Browning converted a couple third downs with his legs and scrambled in for a touchdown to give the Bengals a 17-7 lead with less than seven minutes left in the second quarter.
Evan McPherson got things started with a 34-yard field goal to cap a productive opening drive, and although the Chiefs easily responded with a touchdown on their first offensive possession, the Bengals kept plugging along.
Browning connected with Joe Mixon on a 7-yard pass to regain the lead the next drive, and Trey Hendrickson forced Patrick Mahomes to fumble on a sack, which Sam Hubbard recovered to put the Bengals back on the Kansas City 24-yard line. Cincinnati took advantage with Browning’s rushing touchdown.
The defense then led the way, holding the Chiefs to field goals on back-to-back drives to end the first half and enabled the Bengals to carry a 17-13 lead into halftime, despite struggles stopping the run. Kansas City had concerns going into the game with Isiah Pacheco questionable because of a concussion and shoulder injury but he cleared protocols and ended up with 130 yards on 18 carries.
Kansas City still couldn’t reach the end zone against the Bengals but six Harrison Butker field goals were enough to build a lead the visitors couldn’t overcome while struggling to move the ball in the second half. The Bengals punted three times and had two turnover on downs, including their first possession of the third quarter and the final one.
Tyler Boyd had caught a 23-yard pass on fourth-and-18 with less than two minutes left, but two straight sacks set Browning back and on fourth-and-27, his pass deep to Tee Higgins fell incomplete to end the game.
Browning completed 19 of 33 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown and added 32 yards and a touchdown on seven carries. Mixon had 21 carries for 65 yards.
Mahomes, who had just 79 yards passing in the first half, completed 21 of 29 passes for 245 yards and a touchdown, while tight end Travis Kelce managed just three catches for 16 yards against a Cincinnati defense that has struggled with tight ends.
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