The Chiefs went into halftime of last year’s AFC Championship Game with a 21-10 lead that they were unable to hold and their advantage over the Bengals is even smaller this year.
Evan McPhearson hit his second field goal of the game to bring the Bengals within 13-6 at halftime and the Bengals will likely lament not being able to get into the end zone before the break.
A pass interference penalty on Chiefs rookie safety Bryan Cook wiped out an interception and gave the Bengals a first down shortly before halftime at Arrowhead Stadium. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow hit wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase for another first down and Joe Mixon ran for a third that pushed the ball inside the Kansas City 40-yard-line with 39 seconds left in the half.
Burrow hit Higgins for 11 yards and 21 yards on the next two plays, but a third try in the end zone went incomplete with eight seconds to play. Burrow threw another incompletion while under pressure from Chris Jones on the next play and the Bengals had to settle for the field goal.
Kansas City scored the only touchdown of the first half on a 14-yard throw from Patrick Mahomes to tight end Travis Kelce in the second quarter. Kelce now has 15 career playoff touchdowns and is tied with Rob Gronkowski for the most playoff touchdowns by a tight end.
The Chiefs will not have cornerback L’Jarius Sneed the rest of the way. He has been ruled out after suffering a concussion early in the first quarter. The Chiefs have also lost wide receiver Kadarius Toney to an ankle injury and Bengals wideout Tyler Boyd was not in on the final drive after suffering an undisclosed injury.
