Burrow, Bengals bounce Bills
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals threw a big wrench into the highly anticipated travel plans of the Buffalo Bills, their fans and perhaps even the NFL offices.
Burrow threw two touchdown passes and Cincinnati’s defense swarmed 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.
“Better send those refunds,” Burrow said, referring to the 50,000 or so tickets already sold for a game that won’t be played.
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 neutralsite setting because the Bills (13-3) finished the season half a 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.
Hamlin’s inspirational presence while watching Sunday’s game from an endzone suite was not enough to spark the Bills.
Instead, it was “Joe Cool” showing poise while playing in a persistent snowfall.
Burrow completed his first nine passes for 105 yards as Cincinnati raced to a 14-0 lead after its first two possessions. Ja’Marr Chase opened the scoring with a 28-yard touchdown catch 3:20 into the game, followed by Burrow’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Hayden Hurst eight minutes later. Joe Mixon scored on a one-yard run, and Evan McPherson made field goals from 20 and 28 yards in a game in which the Bengals never trailed.
“The bigger the moment gets, the calmer he gets,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said of Burrow, who improved his playoff record to 5-1. “Our guys believe. They walk on the field ready to attack.”
The Bills’ playoff run ended in the divisional round for a second straight season, including a 42-36 overtime loss to Kansas City last year.
Bills receiver Stefon Diggs was so upset, he was spotted leaving the locker room with much of his gear on shortly after the game ended before being coaxed by a teammate to return.
“He’s a competitive guy. What makes him good is what you saw,” coach Sean McDermott said of Diggs. “It hurts. I wouldn’t want a guy that doesn’t hurt.”