ORCHARD PARK, New York — Joe Burrow threw two touchdown passes, Cincinnati’s defense swarmed Josh Allen on a snow-covered field and the Bengals advanced to their second straight AFC championship game on Sunday with a 27-10 win over the Buffalo Bills.
Damar Hamlin’s inspiring presence while watching the game from an end zone suite wasn’t enough to spark the Bills in a rematch of a regular season game that was canceled Jan. 2 when the Bills’ safety went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated on the field in Cincinnati.
Instead, it was “Joe Cool” who showed composure while playing in a persistent snowfall.
Burrow completed his first nine passes for 105 yards and led Cincinnati to a 14-0 lead after his first two possessions. Ja’Marr Chase opened the scoring with a 28-yard TD catch 3:20 into the game, followed by Burrow’s 15-yard TD throw to Hayden Hurst eight minutes later. Joe Mixon hit on a 1-yard run, and Evan McPherson hit field goals from 20 and 28 yards in a game the Bengals were never behind.
Cincinnati reached back-to-back AFC championship games for the first time in franchise history and will travel again to face off against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bengals defeated the Chiefs 27-24 and advanced to last year’s Super Bowl, which they lost to the Los Angeles Rams.
“It’s going to be fun,” said Burrow, who went 23-of-36 for 242 yards. “Two of the top guys in the league, two of the top teams in the league, great defense, great overall teams, great coaches.”
Cincinnati have won their last three encounters against Kansas City, including a 27-24 win last month. The Chiefs are going into their fifth consecutive AFC championship game after beating Jacksonville 27-20 on Saturday.
The Bills’ playoff run ended in the divisional round for the second straight season, including a 42-36 overtime loss to Kansas City last year.
Had Buffalo defeated Cincinnati, the AFC Championship would have been played in Atlanta next weekend because the Bills (13-3) finished the season a half game behind the Chiefs (14-3) after their game against Cincinnati was canceled.
“Better send those refunds,” Burrow said, referring to Bills and Chiefs fans.
The Bengals interfered with their running attack to keep the Bills off balance in a first half that saw Cincinnati pass Buffalo by 274-135 yards and 412-325 overall. Mixon’s 105 yards alone was 1 short of the Bengals, who combined in their last two games, both against Baltimore.
“Reign from start to finish,” added Burrow. “We expected that. Job isn’t done yet.”
The Bengals held one of the NFL’s top offenses at a season-low 10 points. And the unit had a chance to celebrate by making snow angels in the end zone after Cam Taylor-Britt intercepted Allen’s attempt at the goal line to essentially end the game with 62 seconds remaining.
Allen finished 25 of 42 for 265 yards.
“They came out, they played hard,” Allen said. “We just didn’t have it today.”
It was a dud from an outing for a Bills team that opened the season with Super Bowl ambitions and ended up dying emotionally and physically. Aside from the stunning sight of Hamlin’s collapse, the Bills’ schedule was twice disrupted by severe winter storms.
Injuries also played a role. The Bills’ pass rush, absent Von Miller after suffering a season-ending knee injury in November, created very little pressure against a Bengals offensive line that was missing three starters through injuries.
“We were expecting their best shot and they came out and beat us,” Allen said.
Hamlin was brought into the stadium in a security vehicle and escorted directly to the Bills’ dressing room about an hour before kick-off. He was later joined by his mother Nina and younger brother Damir. He watched the game from a suite in an end zone and was pictured on the video board at the 2-minute warning in the first half when Cincinnati was in front of the second goal at Buffalo’s 5.
Hamlin raised his arms to a roar of cheers in his suite before making a heart sign with his hands. The Bills defense limited the Bengals to a field goal and they were trailing 17-7 at halftime.
STRIPES
The Bengals extended their franchise-best streak to 10 straight wins. They haven’t lost since a 32-13 loss in Cleveland on Halloween.
The Bills fell to 13-2 while hosting an NFL playoff game. And they were 4-0 under coach Sean McDermott.
NEXT
Bengals: Travel to Kansas City to face the Chiefs in a repeat of last year’s AFC Championship game next Sunday.
Bills: Season over.
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