There was no shortage of bulletin board material for either the Cincinnati Bengals or the Kansas City Chiefs entering this game, and those sparks ignited a fiery battle that more than entertained. Amid refereeing controversy and a bevy of injuries on both sides, the Chiefs came away with a 23-20 win over the Bengals. Kansas City will now meet the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl.
Offensive spotlight: This was far from an uninhibited duel between two of the NFL's best quarterbacks, with one nursing a high ankle sprain and the other maneuvering behind a patchwork offensive line. Still, both Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow are on track to earn 70.0-plus overall grades.
Burrow made two big-time throws and two turnover-worthy plays, while Mahomes tallied one of each. Both signal-callers completed three deep shots targeted 20-plus yards downfield, with Marquez Valdes-Scantling accounting for all three for Kansas City.
Defensive spotlight: Chiefs interior defender Chris Jones, after not recording a postseason sack in 13 previous career outings, was a constant thorn in Joe Burrow‘s side. He broke that sackless streak, notching two to go along with seven other pressures for a game-high nine. Jones is on track to finish with a 90.0-plus grade as the game's highest-graded player.
Rookie spotlight: The Chiefs amazingly leaned on four rookie defensive backs in the contest, and each one contributed significantly to the end result. Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson fared the worst of the bunch, combining to let up 14 catches on 18 targets for 168 yards and a score. But they also broke up three passes between them, and Watson and Joshua Williams snagged interceptions — the last of which was off a pass breakup by fellow rookie Bryan Cook.
Offensive line spotlight: This was always going to be a game decided by Patrick Mahomes‘ ability to perform despite his ankle injury and Joe Burrow‘s ability to throw in spite of his reserve-heavy offensive line. The latter unit let up 21 pressures in the game, with tackle Hakeem Adeniji the worst of the bunch. He accounted for three sacks and nine total pressures, while guard Max Scharping was responsible for seven in all.
Box Score
Passing
Cincinnati Bengals |
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| Player | Fantasy | Comp/Att | Yds | YPA | TD | Int |
| Joe Burrow | 15.8 | 26 / 41 | 270 | 6.6 | 1 | 2 |
Kansas City Chiefs |
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| Player | Fantasy | Comp/Att | Yds | YPA | TD | Int |
| Patrick Mahomes | 23.84 | 29 / 43 | 326 | 7.6 | 2 | 0 |
Rushing
Cincinnati Bengals |
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| Player | Fantasy | Car | Yds | YPC | TD | Long |
| Joe Burrow | 15.8 | 4 | 30 | 7.5 | 0 | 14 |
| Samaje Perine | 11.6 | 5 | 22 | 4.4 | 1 | 7 |
| Joe Mixon | 6.4 | 8 | 19 | 2.4 | 0 | 7 |
Kansas City Chiefs |
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| Player | Fantasy | Car | Yds | YPC | TD | Long |
| Patrick Mahomes | 23.84 | 3 | 8 | 2.7 | 0 | 5 |
| Isiah Pacheco | 13.5 | 10 | 26 | 2.6 | 0 | 6 |
| Jerick McKinnon | 3.8 | 4 | 1 | 0.2 | 0 | 4 |
| Mecole Hardman | 3.7 | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 5 |
| Ronald Jones | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Receiving
Cincinnati Bengals |
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| Player | Fantasy | Tgt | Rec | Yds | YPT | TD |
| Tee Higgins | 20.3 | 11 | 6 | 83 | 7.5 | 1 |
| Ja'Marr Chase | 13.5 | 8 | 6 | 75 | 9.4 | 0 |
| Samaje Perine | 11.6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Hayden Hurst | 7.7 | 5 | 4 | 37 | 7.4 | 0 |
| Joe Mixon | 6.4 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 5 | 0 |
| Tyler Boyd | 6 | 2 | 2 | 40 | 20 | 0 |
| Mitchell Wilcox | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 0 |
| Trenton Irwin | 1.6 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
Kansas City Chiefs |
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| Player | Fantasy | Tgt | Rec | Yds | YPT | TD |
| Marquez Valdes-Scantling | 26.6 | 8 | 6 | 116 | 14.5 | 1 |
| Travis Kelce | 20.8 | 8 | 7 | 78 | 9.8 | 1 |
| Isiah Pacheco | 13.5 | 6 | 5 | 59 | 9.8 | 0 |
| Skyy Moore | 4.3 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 1.9 | 0 |
| Jerick McKinnon | 3.8 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 4.2 | 0 |
| Mecole Hardman | 3.7 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 3.3 | 0 |
| Marcus Kemp | 2.3 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 13 | 0 |
| Kadarius Toney | 1.9 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 4.5 | 0 |
| JuJu Smith-Schuster | 1.7 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Noah Gray | 1.4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
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