Joe Burrow threw for two touchdowns behind an exceptional offensive line while Lou Anarumo's defense dominated as the Bengals beat the Bills to set up an AFC Championship Game meeting with the Chiefs; watch Championship Sunday live on Sky Sports NFL.
Monday 23 January 2023 10:42, UK
Joe Burrow passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns as the Cincinnati Bengals rolled to a 27-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills to return to the AFC Championship Game for the second straight season.
Joe Mixon rushed for 105 yards and one touchdown in the divisional round contest as third-seeded Cincinnati recorded their 10th straight victory.
Ja'Marr Chase and Hayden Hurst had scoring receptions for the Bengals, who produced a commanding performance in snowy conditions at Orchard Park.
Josh Allen was 25-of-42 passing for 265 yards and one interception and also rushed for a touchdown for second-seeded Buffalo. Stefon Diggs had just 35 yards on four catches and the Bills were outgained 412 to 325 while seeing their eight-game winning streak come to an end.
The Bengals will now visit the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday in a rematch of last season's AFC title game, which saw Cincinnati win that contest 27-24 in overtime.
Burrow completed 23 of 36 passes while increasing his franchise record for playoff victories to five.
Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who went into cardiac arrest 20 days earlier when these teams met in Cincinnati, attended the contest and prompted a touching reception from fans upon appearing on the big screen.
The Bengals led 24-10 after Mixon scored from the one-yard line with 1:17 left in the third quarter, the play having initially been ruled short of the goal line before Cincinnati successfully challenged the result.
Evan McPherson made it a three-possession game with a 20-yard field goal with 11:22 left in the contest.
The Bills came up empty on their next drive when Allen's fourth-and-six pass from the Bengals' 16 fell incomplete with 7:23 remaining. Allen was later picked off by Cam Taylor-Britt with 1:02 left.
Cincinnati had 18 first downs and outgained the Bills 274-135 in the first half to take a 17-7 lead at the break.
Burrow connected with Chase on a 28-yard touchdown pass on the game-opening drive and followed with a 15-yard scoring pass to Hurst on the second drive to make it 14-0 with 3:47 left in the first quarter.
The Bills put together a 15-play, 75-yard drive in the second quarter with Allen scoring on a one-yard sneak with 7:25 left in the half.
Burrow and Chase nearly teamed up for a 10-yard scoring pass late in the second quarter but a replay review ruled that Chase didn't have possession of the ball while in the end zone. McPherson entered to kick a 28-yard field goal with 1:49 on the clock.
Buffalo began the third quarter with a drive that took 7:18 but settled for Tyler Bass' 25-yard field goal to trail 17-10.
We have our final four for the Conference Championship games next Sunday, live on Sky Sports NFL.
Firstly, the 49ers travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles in the NFC title game (Kick-off, 8pm), while the Kansas City Chiefs then host the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC (Kick-off, 11.30pm), with the winners progressing through to Super Bowl LVII in Arizona on February 12.
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