Joseph Ossai's Late Hit On Patrick Mahomes Sends The Chiefs Back To The Super Bowl As Travis Kelce Dunks On "Burrowhead" Bros

There were no fewer than four bad spots that weren't in the Bengals' favor in Kansas City. A whole-ass third-down stop got waived off for some dubious clock issue? The refs were not in Cincinnati's favor. That much no one can deny. Joe Burrow got sacked four times in the first quarter. Patrick Mahomes had way too much time to throw for most of the evening.

Yep. Arrowhead Stadium and the officiating crew proved too much for Cincinnati to overcome. To be completely sincere, what a hell of a fight from a hobbled Mahomes, who fell off a bit in the second half but still balled out all things considered. After throwing for 326 damn yards and two scores, Mahomes made some late-game magic with his legs, leading to a boneheaded, unconscionable 15-yard flag on Joseph Ossai who hit him late out of bounds:

Ossai was more disruptive as a pass-rusher as the game wore on. In this moment, he had the worst play of his career in the biggest moment. It's amazing that Mahomes had enough legs at THIS JUNCTURE of the game. Harrison Butker nailed a 45-yarder to win it.

Poor guy, that Joseph Ossai. Hope he rallies.

Might as well make the T-shirts now. Shout out Travis Kelce. Well-played.

I always thought "Burrowhead" was a bit much. You won't catch me saying that shit. Bengals beat the Chiefs ONCE in Kansas City, last Championship Sunday. Clearly the Chiefs were out for vengeance. They got it by the skin of their teeth, but they did get it.

So congrats. Back to the drawing board. I'm sure everyone will say CINCINNATI'S CHAMPIONSHIP WINDOW HAS OFFICIALLY SLAMMED SHUT. I'd argue that this is only going to drive the nucleus of this team closer together, and yeah, when you're this damn close to a fucking Super Bowl, you want to take that shit. Thing is, we might be looking at a legit dynasty in KC, who's hosted the AFC title game five freaking years in a row.

The 0-2 start to the season wound up pretty much killing the Bengals. Had they found a way to grind those out, maybe Sunday's showdown is in Cincy. Alas. This whole game just felt like it was meant to go in the Chiefs' favor.

DAMN This sucks. I thought we had 'em after that crazy Mahomes self-fumble. Unfortunately, Chris Jones sacked Joey B on the critical third down on the Bengals' final possession. Mahomes got the ball back with a short field. That's all she wrote.

Bummer of a way for the season to finish. I think the Bengals will be back. They were, you know, playing without three of their five season-long starters on the offensive line — and one of those mainstays was fourth-round rookie left guard Cordell Volson. Get out of the gates a little faster during the 2023 season, see if Joe Brrr can avoid an untimely offseason appendectomy this time, and let's see what we got. If I'm gonna hold an L, might as well be to Mahomes on the road. Not a worthier opponent in the NFL.

Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok