KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ It was classic Bengals-Chiefs as Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes delivered one of their riveting heavyweight bouts.
For the sixth time in the six games they've played since Jan. 2, 2022, the teams traded leads in the fourth quarter. This time, they did it three times.
The 2024 rendition ended on the foot of Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, who drilled a 51-yard field goal to give Kansas City the 26-25 victory.
The Chiefs got the ball back down two with 2:35 remaining. The Bengals defense forced Kansas City into a 4th-and-16, but a pass interference call on rookie safety Daijahn Anthony gave the Chiefs the first down and pushed them into Butker range. Cincinnati falls to 0-2 for the third consecutive season with the loss.
Mahomes opened the second half with a 13-play touchdown drive that consumed half of the third quarter as KC took a 17-16 lead.
But Burrow came back with a haymaker of his own. On the very next snap, he launched a 47-yard pearl to rookie wide receiver Jermaine Burton for his first NFL catch, racing past cornerback Jaylen Watson.
That put the Bengals in the red zone, and Burrow delivered three huge plays. He muscled for a first down when he broke away from a sack for three yards, he bulled for a third-and-one quarterback sneak and then hit wide receiver Andrei Iosivas for his second touchdown of the day on an ice cold fourth-and-three where he calmly bided time in the pocket.
Evan McPherson then missed his first field goal or extra point in six games against the Chiefs, but the Bengals had a 22-17 lead with 2:16 left in the third quarter.
The Bengals defense was down their two starting defensive lineman late, when Sheldon Rankins left. B.J. Hill left in the first quarter with a hamstring injury.
On the next series, two snaps after cornerback DJ Turner II's interception was overturned by a penalty on rookie safety Daijahn Anthony, Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt made a spectacular one-handed interception working on rookie speedster Xavier Worthy on a go ball down the left sideline. Mahomes was too short, and Taylor-Britt turned and plucked it out of the air.
But Burrow turned it over three plays later on third-and-10. When he scrambled out of a collapsing pocket, he was dragged down by end Mike Danna and tackle Tershawn Wharton for a sack. Burrow lost the ball as it rolled into the arms of Chamarri Conner for a fumble return touchdown that gave the Chiefs a 23-22 lead with 14:40 left in the game.
The Bengals were driving on the next possession, thanks to a nice 12-yard-run-and-catch by running back Zack Moss. The drive stalled quickly, though, when left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., was called for holding, and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase was called for unsportsmanlike-conduct after he was stopped for a four-yard gain.
But McPherson saved the day with a 53-yard field with 9:28 left in the game that gave the Bengals a 25-22 lead.
In the first half, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo flashed their creativity to forge a 16-10 halftime lead behind three McPherson field goals.
Using multiple tight end sets against monstrous Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, nine of Burrow's 13 completions in the first half went to tight ends for 113 of his 140 passing yards. Mike Gesicki (58), Drew Sample (28) and rookie Erick All Jr. (27), were the Bengals' leading receivers with three catches each.
With the Chiefs hurting the Bengals in the run game with 91 yards on 17 carries in the first half, Anarumo turned to three linebackers in some packages instead of his usual two. The third one, Akeem Davis-Gaither, got the Bengals' first turnover of the season with his second career interception, the first of two the Bengals forced in the first half.
Mahomes appeared to be throwing to Pro Bowl tight end Travis Kelce over the middle, but he apparently didn't see Davis-Gaither's deep drop. That put the ball at the 31 in a 3-3 game, and Taylor went to work.
All caught a shallow cross for nine yards with Chase lining up in the backfield and motioning on the first snap after Davis-Gaither's interception. On one snap on the drive, running back Zack Moss ran five yards to the Chiefs 9 for a first down behind third tackle Cody Ford.
Then on third and goal from the 4, Burrow threw a bullet to wide receiver Andrei Iosivas on an out route, and Iosivas somehow got both feet down to give the Bengals a short-lived lead three minutes into the second quarter, 10-3.
Mahomes (10 of 13 passing for 93 yards in the half) got it back about three minutes later with his biggest play of the young season when he flipped a 44-yard beauty to wide receiver Rashee Rice running past Taylor-Britt for the tying touchdown.
Burrow didn't wait around, either, and got a 19-yard catch from All to ignite another red zone march. Chase got some nice YAC on a 12-yard and then picked up 14 more when cornerback Trent McDuffie was called for pass interference.
The drive stalled at the 12, when Burrow couldn't connect with Gesicki on a jump ball in the end zone on first down and had a pass go off wide receiver Trenton Irwin’s face on second down. Then on third down, Chris Jones asserted himself for the first Sunday and teamed up for a sack with edge George Karlaftis to force McPherson's go-ahead field goal at 13-10.
The Bengals' second turnover came courtesy of defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins’ forced fumble on Chiefs rookie running back Carson Steele recovered by linebacker Germaine Pratt at the Chiefs 46 with 3:01 left in the half.
On second-and-four from the Chiefs 29, Burrow gave rookie wide receiver Jermaine Burton his first NFL target when he tried a go ball at the left pylon on veteran cornerback Trent McDuffie, but it went over their heads. Then on third-and-four, Irwin was called for offensive pass interference to force McPherson's 48-yard field goal that gave them a 16-10 lead with 1:33 left in the half.
Kelce caught his only ball of the half when the Chiefs got the ball back, a five-yard flip. The drive died when Bengals Pro Bowl edge rusher Trey Hendrickson got his first sack of the year.
Burrow went to his multiple tight ends on the first series and drove to the Chiefs 4 where they settled for a McPherson field goal. As languid as they looked on the game 's first series last week, they looked as crisp, thanks to the longest play of the season on fourth-and-three at the Chiefs 43 and Gesicki caught a 37-yarder over the middle that was mainly yards after catch.
But they couldn't punch it in. On second down, McDuffie batted the ball away from Chase on a slant, and on third down Burrow got pressure in the pocket and got a throw off as he was getting tackled to bring on McPherson.
On their first defensive drive, the Bengals let the Chiefs go 69 yards on 16 plays, but they denied the 70th yard and forced a Harrison Butker chip-shot field goal.
The Bengals bowed up when the Chiefs had first-and-goal from the 2. The first two downs got nothing in the run game with stops by Rankins and left end Sam Hubbard and on third down Mahomes floated a ball in the right flat to Pacheco and safety Vonn Bell came up to make the stop and force a 3-3 game.
