Bookmark this page for the latest Bengals versus Chiefs score and the highlights capturing every touchdown and game-defining play.
For a second straight year, the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs will face off in the AFC Championship as the two teams look to represent the conference in Super Bowl LVII.
After 17 games and two weeks of NFL Playoff action, the Bengals and Chiefs once again remain the cream of the AFC crop. The game between the division champions on Sunday will be a rare rematch of their championship clash last season.
However, in their last three matchups, the Bengals have proven to be the Chiefs’ kryptonite and handed them three straight defeats. It is why Kansas City will be as motivated as ever to return to the Super Bowl for the third time in the last four years.
Related: Cincinnati Bengals vs Kansas City Chiefs – 4 bold predictions
Below, you can find live highlights of the AFC Championship game, but we’ve also provided some stats and information on the game before the Bengals and Chiefs do battle inside Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri.
Bengals vs Chiefs AFC Championship highlights
Kansas City’s defense made the first real impact in the AFC Championship Game with Frank Clark getting to Joe Burrow for a nine-yard loss on a sack. Remember, Cincinnati is playing without two starting offensive linemen, including left tackle Jonah Williams. It’s something to watch.
Kansas City’s defense did not stop there. After taking a 3-0 lead on a Harrison Butker field goal, the Chiefs took down Burrow on two consecutive plays, the last of which came from Chris Jones to force a fourth and long.
Kansas City took a 6-0 lead in the second quarter on two field goals before Cincinnati mounted its first real drive of the game. Burrow led the Bengals down the field 63 yards on 13 plays with some help from Tyler Boyd. Evan McPherson would nail a 30-yard field goal to put Cincinnati on the board and make this a 6-3 game.
Up by three points, Kansas City didn’t take long to answer. That included Patrick Mahomes hitting Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a 29-yard pass to set the Chiefs up in scoring range.
A few plays later, and Kansas City was facing fourth-and1 from the Bengals’ 14-yard line. That’s when Travis Kelce came up big time. Questionable heading in, he burnt the Bengals for a touchdown and a 10-point Chiefs lead.
Kansas City’s defense did not let up after taking a double-digit lead. That included rookie Jaylen Watson recording his second interception in as many weeks to set the Chiefs up well before halftime.
Burrow just floated that out there while underthrowing Tee Higgins. The NFL MVP finalist is off to a terrible start on Sunday. That’s for sure.
Despite it seeming like Kansas City had dominated in the first half, Cincinnati found itself down by just seven points after Evan McPherson nailed a field goal as time expired.
In the third, it did not take long for the talented Cincinnati offense to put a touchdown on the board. After getting the ball, they drove down the field, and MVP candidate Joe Burrow found gifted WR2 Tee Higgins for a touchdown on a great throw and an even better catch.
Following the drive, Mahomes and the Chiefs took back to the field, and the serious injury the superstar QB is dealing with became obvious as he seemed to tweak the high ankle sprain a bit after a pass. The one-time league MVP deserves a lot of credit for playing through an injury that usually takes a month to heal.
Minutes later, Mahomes showed off his world-class talent when he escaped a collapsing pocket and threaded the needle with an absolute bullet of a 25-yard pass to Marques Valdes-Scantling in the endzone to retake the lead.
The Chiefs’ defense held after the TD, got the ball back, and seemed to be driving down the field to extend their lead. However, Mahomes was unable to handle a long snap and posted a rare fumble that Cincinnati was able to recover in Kansas City territory.
A few plays after the fumble, the Cincinnati Bengals QB connected on a bomb to WR1 Ja’Marr Chase who made the catch of the night for Cincinnati with two defenders on him. Soon after that, the offense was able to punch it into the endzone on a two-yard TD run from Samaje Perine. Tying the game at 20-20.
In what has been a back-and-forth second half, after getting a stop against the Chiefs, Burrow took a risk with a bomb pass to Tee Higgins with two defenders on him. Unlike the play with Chase, luck was in KCs favor as a tip by one of the Chiefs’ defensive backs was caught for an interception and created a big momentum shift with less than five minutes left in the game.
After trading possesions, the Bengals punted with less than a minute left in the game and the Kansas City Chiefs got a massive 27-yard punt return from Skyy Moore that gave the team a chance to get within range of a field goal to win the game.
Despite being on a gimpy ankle, Patrick Mahomes made the play of the game when he extended a play and ran for a big first down. However, the star QB was hit while he was out of bounds and a penalty added 15 yards to the play and put Kansas City in field goal range.
With the game and a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, Harrison Butker nailed a game-winning field goal to send KC to their third NFL championship game appearance in four seasons.
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Kansas City Chiefs preview
What makes this matchup on Sunday so fascinating is that despite the Kansas City Chiefs’ dynastic success over the last five years, the Cincinnati Bengals are the one franchise that consistently has had their number over the last two seasons.
In 2021-2022, the Bengals defeated the Chiefs 34-31 in a Week 17 game where Cincy superstars Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase showed out to the tune of 446 passing and 266 receiving yards. However, that was just an appetizer as the Bengals’ defense would force former NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes into two interceptions in another win, but this time in the 2022 AFC Championship.
Bengals at Chiefs odds, matchups, and predictions
However, the streak continued in Week 13 of this season as Cincinnati won again 27-24 as Mahomes was kept under 300 passing yards for a third consecutive time. It means that the tale of revenge for KC is just as fascinating as their attempt at a third Super Bowl appearance in the last half-decade.
Bengals and Chiefs QB comparison
| Player | Team | Comp % | Yards | TD | INT | QB rating |
| Joe Burrow | Bengals | 68.3 | 4,475 | 35 | 12 | 100.8 |
| Patrick Mahomes | Chiefs | 67.1 | 5,250 | 45 | 12 | 105.2 |
Beyond their star MVP candidate quarterbacks, both teams are deep with high-level talent on both sides of the ball. Find out where the Bengals and Chiefs rank in our latest NFL Playoff defense and offense rankings, as well as where Andy Reid and Zac Taylor rank among the head coaches left in the postseason.
