KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ There was never a doubt it was going to come down to this.
"That's what the Bengals and Chiefs is," said Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., who lost two like this when he was playing for the Chiefs.
A walk-off field goal decided it for the fourth time in the six games they've met since Jan. 2, 2022.
It went to Harrison Butker of the Chiefs from 51 yards seconds after Bengals rookie safety Daijahn Anthony was called for interfering with Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice on fourth-and-16 at the Bengals 36 in Kansas City's 26-25 win at delirious Arrowhead Stadium.
"To lose by one, that stuff hurts," said cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt, who had one of the two interceptions of two-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes. "It hurts even more when we lost by three because we had it in the bag."
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor watched his team take the lead four times against the two-time Super Bowl champions, the last one on Evan McPherson’s 53-yard field goal with 9:28 left in the game.
"Disappointed we lost. It's an emotional loss for us," Taylor said. "But at the same time I like where our mental state is right now. How we fought. How we were confident and went about it the right way."
As for the penalty, Taylor wouldn't talk about the officiating, but said, "Plays like that are going to benefit us at some point this year."
BURROW BITS
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow outplayed Mahomes (a 103.7 passer rating vs. 80.6), a well-placed warning shot to the whispers about the health of his wrist. It was his best passing performance against the two-time Super Bowl champs since a 128 in the Dec. 4, 2022 win over the Chiefs at Paycor Stadium.
But he didn't get a win to show for it. Largely because his fumble when he was getting sacked on third down on the third play of the fourth quarter turned into safety Chamarri Conner's 38-yard touchdown return to give the Chiefs a 23-22 lead.
"Disappointing," Burrow said.
It's about as down and as soft-spoken as Burrow has been after a loss. He called it as frustrating as he's had. But he put them in position with some physical courage in the go-ahead touchdown drive that put the Bengals up, 22-17, with 2:16 left in the third quarter.
On third-and-two from the Chiefs 15, he broke out of a sack and lugged two defenders for four yards. On third-and-one from the 2, he snuck up the middle to the 1. Then on fourth-and-three from the 3, he rope-a-doped in the pocket to find wide receiver Andrei Iosivas breaking off his route and catching his second touchdown of the game. Iosivas said the defensive back undercut him, so he came back to Burrow.
"He broke his route off early. That was an unbelievable job by him doing that so early," Burrow said. "They were trying to defend, and he ran the route to beat it. That was a big-time play by him."
Burrow, who went 23 of 36 with two touchdown passes and 258 yards, said it was the best he's felt throwing since his wrist surgery of last November.
"I thought I played fast, decisive," Burrow said. "I have to hold on to the ball."
Burrow did it all. Even peacemaker. He was unable to prevent wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase from getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after Chase got stopped by cornerback Trent McDuffie for four yards on a second-and-11 play from the Chiefs 34 with 10:18 left and the Bengals trailing, 23-22. That play took them out of it for a touchdown, but McPherson did hit the 53-yarder.
"I was just trying to de-escalate it," said Burrow, who twice shoved Chase away from the refs and McDuffie. "I think something was said, but I'm not sure what."
The Chiefs did what they do when wide receiver Tee Higgins (hamstring) isn't playing, doubling Chase and playing a soft shell. He had just had four catches for 35 yards and is still looking for a long ball this season: His longest catch was 13 yards Sunday.
Taylor and Burrow got a ton from their tight ends. Tanner Hudson (knee) didn't play, but Mike Gesicki (seven catches for 91 yards), rookie Erick All Jr. (4-32) and Drew Sample (3-28) combined for 151 yards on 14 catches as the Bengals uncharacteristically used a slew of double and triple tight end sets.
"That was the kind of game they were playing," Burrow said. "We knew they were going to double One (Chase) and we needed guys to step up and they did."
BURTON ARRIVES
Rookie wide receiver Jermaine Burton said that's basically what Burrow told him when Burton had a deep ball go over his head at the goal line on his first NFL target in the first half.
"He said pretty much to go make a play. That we needed guys to step up because they were double-teaming Ja'Marr," Burton said.
So, Burton did on the first play after the Chiefs went up, 17-16. On the Bengals' first play of the second half, Burton went deep on a go ball for the Bengals' longest play of the season and his first NFL catch, a 47-yarder down the left sideline that set up the go-ahead touchdown.
Earlier in the week Zac Taylor had praised Burton for his approach at practice and he rewarded him with his most work with Burrow in a game.
"It was a quarters look and I was taking it outside," Burton said.
CTB's ADVICE
Taylor-Britt had some advice for Anthony, the seventh-rounder from Mississippi State. "Stuff happens. Move on. You can't get it back. Game's over."
He pointed to his own sequence in this one. Back in the second quarter, Mahomes beat him on a 44-yard go lob to wide receiver Rashee Rice down the left sideline to tie the game at 10. Taylor-Britt leaped and nearly tipped it as it sailed over his head.
"He put a lot of air under it," Taylor-Britt said.
Instead of moping, Taylor-Britt made a huge play on the last play of the third quarter with the Bengals leading, 22-17. Rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy, the fastest guy in the history of the NFL scouting combine, couldn't outrun Taylor-Britt, and Mahomes didn't let him when he underthrew him on the same go ball down the left sideline. CTB turned and plucked it with his right hand at the Bengals 34.
"I made the exact same play in practice," Taylor-Britt said of last week. "I learned something from the touchdown. How they were split out formationally. I knew what Xavier Worthy is. He's a speed-release guy who doesn't want to get touched. I just had to go up and make a play."
D-LINE STANDS UP
The Bengals ended the game with both starting defensive tackles out of the game with hamstring injuries. B.J. Hill left in the first quarter and Sheldon Rankins went with eight minutes left.
Their two backups they had planned on in July, rookies Kris Jenkins Jr. (thumb) and McKinnley Jackson (knee) have yet to play. So left end and defensive captain Sam Hubbard did what he hadn't done in four years and went inside on third down in the two-minute drills at the end of each half. As the game wore on, and the Chiefs piled up 149 rushing yards on 4.7 per carry, Hubbard went inside most of the time on a day the defense bent but didn't break until the penalty. Joseph Ossai came off the bench to play Hubbard's spot on the left edge. He took 35 snaps, his most since he took 46 in the 2022 must-win regular-season finale.
"Whatever they need. I'm excited to see how this role plays out," said Hubbard, who missed most of training camp and says he felt a lot better this week than last. "(Tackles) Jay Tufele played his ass off. Zach Carter."
Hubbard's "Bash Brother," on the other side, Pro Bowl sacker Trey Hendrickson dominated the last quarter. He blew up the Chiefs' next to last drive of the game with his second sack on the day and followed up on the next snap by drawing a holding penalty. On the last drive, his relentless pressure helped collapse the pocket on a fourth down and drew a hands to the face penalty that set up the fourth-and-16.
"He played great when we needed it," Hubbard said.
SLANTS AND SCREENS
Anthony had another penalty, holding on All-World tight end Travis Kelce, that wiped away a pick for cornerback DJ Turner. But Anthony helped another stout by-committee effort, holding Kelce to one catch for five yards on three targets. Kelce doesn't do much against the Bengals. In the four regular-season games since 2021, he's got 25, 57, 56 and five yards
It could have gone overtime, but McPherson missed an extra point on a day he drilled four field goals and kept them in it. That's the only kick he's missed in six games against the Chiefs...
Referee Alex Kemp said he threw the flag on Chase for "abusive language," to an official. It spawned from Chase feeling he was the victim of McDuffie's hip-drop tackle, but the referees disagreed ...
LInebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither only picks off NFL MVPs. The first one in his career was off Baltimore's Lamar Jackson. The second one was Sunday off Mahomes on a day defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo went with three backers at times to help stop the run with a depleted defensive line. It also helped take away Kelce as Davis-Gaither's deep drop down the middle in a cover two zone seemed to fool Mahomes.
"The guy got him (Mahomes). He was waiting on Kelce just to break it," said Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. "Kelce broke in there and he didn't see that it was a cover two look and that backside linebacker, experienced guy, snuck right into the picture there. He doesn't miss many of those." ...
With backers Logan Wilson playing all 65 snaps and Germaine Pratt 61, Davis-Gaither logged 16 ...
