2022 AFC Championship Game

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2022 AFC Championship Game
DateJanuary 29, 2023
Kickoff time5:40 p.m. CST
Stadium Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
FavoriteChiefs by 1.5 [1]
Referee Ronald Torbert
Attendance73,426
TV in the United States
Network CBS
Announcers Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson, Evan Washburn, and Jay Feely
Nielsen ratings U.S. TV viewership: 53.1 million [2]

The 2022 American Football Conference (AFC) Championship Game was a National Football League (NFL) game played on January 29, 2023, to determine the AFC champion for the 2022 NFL season. The game was played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, featuring the Cincinnati Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs, a rematch of the prior year's AFC title game.

Contents

Unlike the prior year's game, the Chiefs defeated the Bengals, 23–20, thanks to a last-second field goal by kicker Harrison Butker.

Background

The Cincinnati Bengals entered the 2022 season as the defending AFC champions, having lost Super Bowl LVI. Under third-year quarterback Joe Burrow, the Bengals went 12–4 over the regular season. In the Wild Card Round, Cincinnati defeated their division rival Baltimore Ravens, 24–17. In the Divisional Round, the Bengals defeated the Buffalo Bills, 27–10. [3]

The Kansas City Chiefs finished the 2022 regular season with a 14–3 record, led by MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes. In the Divisional Round, the Chiefs defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars, 27–20. [4]

The two teams faced off in the AFC Championship Game from the prior year, with the Bengals overcoming a 21–3 deficit in the second quarter to upset the Chiefs in overtime. Additionally, the two teams faced off in Cincinnati earlier in the regular season, with the Bengals winning 27–24. [ citation needed ]

Entering the game, with Joe Burrow now 3–0 against Patrick Mahomes in his career, Cincinnati mayor Aftab Pureval posted a video on social media from a city council meeting, where he humorously referred to the Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium as "Burrowhead Stadium". [5]

Game summary

First half

Cincinnati had to punt on their opening drive, and Kadarius Toney's 12-yard return gave Kansas City the ball on their own 36 yard line. A pair of 16 yard completions from Patrick Mahomes to Isiah Pacheco set up Butker's 43-yard field goal to give the team an early 3–0 lead. The Bengals quickly had to punt again and KC storm back for another score, with Mahomes completing 6/8 passes for 69 yards as the team advanced to the Bengals 9-yard line. Pacheco scored on a touchdown run, but it was called back by a holding penalty and the Chiefs ended up settling for Butker's field 24-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter. Kansas City had dominated the game up to then, gaining 110 yards and six first downs, while holding Cincinnati to 0 yards and one first down, sacking quarterback Joe Burrow three times.

Cincinnati responded on their next drive, as Burrow converted a 3rd-and-14 with a 16-yard pass to Tyler Boyd, and later hit him for a 24-yard gain to set up Evan McPherson's 30-yard field goal that made the score 6–3. Kansas City stormed right back 75 yards in 10 plays, including a 29-yard completion from Mahomes to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. On the last play, he converted a 4th-and-1 with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Travis Kelce, giving the team a 13–3 lead. On the Bengals next drive, Burrow threw a pass that was intercepted by Jaylen Watson and returned 10 yards to the team's 39-yard line. However, their defense managed to force 3 incompletions and a punt, which Tommy Townsend sent out of bounds at the Bengals 5-yard line. Aided by a 20-yard pass interference penalty against Bryan Cook that negated an interception by Juan Thornhill, Burrow led Cincinnati 70 yards in 13 plays, completing 8/10 passes for 62 yards before McPherson's 20-yard field goal on the last play of the quarter sent the teams into their locker rooms with a score of 13–6.

Second half

After forcing the Chiefs to punt, Cincinnati tied the score on their first drive of the second half, moving the ball 62 yards in 9 plays and scoring on Burrow's 27-yard touchdown pass to Tee Higgins. But the Chiefs stormed right back to retake it at 20–13, with Mahomes completing 3 passes to Valdez-Scantling for 52 yards, the last a 19-yard touchdown completion on 3rd-and-10. After Cincinnati punted, Mahomes led the Chiefs to the Bengals 43-yard line. But with a minute left in the third quarter, he fumbled the ball while winding up for a pass without being touched. Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard recovered it on the Kansas City 45-yard line. The team soon faced 4th-and-6 from the Chiefs 40, but Burrow managed to convert with a long pass to Ja'Marr Chase, who made a leaping catch between two defensive backs for a 35-yard gain. This set up Samaje Perine's 2-yard rushing score that tied the game at 20–20 with 13:35 left in the 4th quarter.

After a Chiefs punt, Burrow was intercepted by Joshua Williams on the Chiefs' 14-yard line. Kansas City then drove a 3rd-and-12 on the Bengals 41. On the next play, Kansas City gained 4 yards and was penalized for holding. Rather than take the penalty, coach Zac Taylor decided to accept the results of the play, forcing Kansas City to decide on a punt or a long field goal. The Chiefs decided to punt, and got a big boost from Townshend, who kicked the ball out of bounds at the Bengals 6-yard line. Cincinnati subsequently drove to their own 35, featuring a 23-yard completion from Burrow to tight end Hayden Hurst on 3rd-and-16. But on 3rd-and-8, Burrow was sacked for an 8-yard loss by Chris Jones, forcing the team to punt the ball back to Kansas City with 40 seconds left on the clock.

Skyy Moore returned Drue Chrisman's 54-yard punt 29 yards to the Chiefs 47-yard line. On the next play, Mahomes completed a pass to Pacheco for 6 yards. Then when faced with 3rd-and-4 with 17 seconds left, Mahomes scrambled 5 yards for a first down. Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai was penalized 15 yards for shoving Mahomes after he stepped out of bounds, giving Kansas City another 15 yards on the end of the run. Now with just 8 seconds left, Butker's 45-yard field goal gave the team a 23–20 win.

Playing on an injured ankle, Mahomes completed 29/43 passes for 326 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also rushing for 8 yards. Valdez-Scantling was the top receiver of the game with 6 receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown. Kelce had 7 catches for 78 yards and a score. Townsend planted 3 of his 4 punts inside the 20. Burrow completed 26/41 passes for 270 yards and a touchdown. He was also the team's leading rusher with 4 carries for 30 yards, but was intercepted twice and sacked 5 times. Higgins was the Bengals leading receiver with 6 receptions for 83 yards and a touchdown.

Box score

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Kansas City Chiefs – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bengals067720
Chiefs3107323

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Game information

See also

References

  1. ↑ "AFC Championship - Cincinnati Bengals at Kansas City Chiefs - January 29th, 2023". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  2. ↑ "2022 NFL television ratings". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  3. ↑ "2022 Cincinnati Bengals Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees, Injury Reports". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  4. ↑ "2022 Kansas City Chiefs Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees, Injury Reports". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Cincinnati mayor looking forward to game at 'Burrowhead' Stadium". KMBC. January 26, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
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