5 keys to victory for Bengals in AFC Championship game vs. Chiefs

Be the last team with the ball

When the Bengals beat the Chiefs in Week 17, they made absolutely certain that they did not give the ball back to Mahomes at the end of the game. While this required some help from the refs, the Bengals winded the clock down so that they could kick a walk-off field goal to win the game, without giving Mahomes a chance to take the game to overtime, or worse, win in regulation.

The Buffalo Bills learned all to well why you cannot give the ball back to Mahomes at the end of the game. Despite taking the lead with 13 seconds left on the clock, the Bills were not able to hold onto their lead, as Mahomes got KC into field goal range with just enough time left, taking the game to overtime, where the Chiefs eventually won.

If the Bengals want to win this time around, they will have to replicate the end of their last matchup with the Chiefs. They will need to either win with a walk-off field goal from Evan McPherson or they make the hard decision to pass up a game-tying field goal that would send them to overtime to instead score a touchdown to take the lead at the end of the game.

Imagine this, the Bengals are down three, at the 10-yard line with five seconds left, do they leave it up to a coin toss in overtime? As crazy as it sounds, maybe they would choose to take a shot for the end zone and steal the game in regulation than to leave their fate up to a coin toss.

If they do end up in overtime, however, they would obviously have to be the last team with the ball. Either way, this feels like a game where the last team with the ball wins the game, whether that be in regulation or in overtime.