The Cincinnati Bengals won a playoff game for the first time in 31 years on Saturday. Carrying a 7-point lead all the way down to the wire, Paul Brown Stadium erupted as Germaine Pratt’s red zone interception with :12 remaining.
The clutch victory looked to be more than a streak-ending win. It also looks to be a coming out party for the Bengals, with the young team establishing themselves as a threat for years to come. Let’s take a look three takeaways from Cincinnati’s playoff victory against the Loss Vegas Raiders.
Burrows To Chase Is For Real
JaMarr Chase and Joe Burrows continued their connection in the Wild Card Game. Burrows threw to Chase 12 times for 9 receptions for 116 yards. Chase continued his Rookie of The Year nominated campaign by breaking the Bengals franchise rookie receiving record in a playoff game.
The two former college teammates now reunited in the NFL have now combined for over 533 yards in their last five games, helping catapult their team into the playoffs and now to a Wild Card victory. Now, on the playoff stage the duo have announced to the league that they are here to stay and be feared in years to come.
Mac Attacks 14 Big Points
Evan McPherson scored 14 of the Bengals’ 26 points. The rookie proved to be worthy of the draft pick Cincy used on him in the sixth round by making all four of his field goal attempts as well as two PAT’s. It was consistency from the kicking position that the Bengals haven’t always been able to count on but benefitted from today.
While the Bengals would have liked to finish off more drives in the end zone, McPherson helped them stay on top and finish drives with three points on four occasions. Who was the most valuable rookie for the Bengals? McPherson or Chase? You decide.
Streak Ends Tonight Boys
It would be impossible to write a takeaway article without acknowledging the Bengals ending a three decade long drought without a playoff win. Cincinnati has fielded great teams during that time, and the fact that none of them had won a football game was a surprising fact reviewed during the game. For the first time since 1991 the Cincinnati Bengals are advancing to the next round and while that is reason to celebrate, the team is continuing to look ahead.
“It’s exciting for the city, for the state, but we are not going to dwell on that, we are moving forward,” said Burrow, who threw two touchdown passes. “This is expected, this isn’t like the icing on top of the cake, this is the cake. So we are moving on.”
Next week the bengals will face the Tennessee Titans with a win from the Kansas City Chiefs in their playoff matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, if the Steelers win the Bengals will face the Buffalo Bills.
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