If Joe Burrow is the soul of the Bengals then here came the heart of the Bengals Monday night as Joe Mixon headed into the Paul Brown Stadium locker room filming the fans chanting “Who Dey” through their 28-degree breath.
“A great sendoff,” Mixon said as the fireworks ending a roaring Super Bowl pep rally smoked like one of his Drew Estate victory cigars. “I’ve never seen anything like that before or experienced anything like that in my life. I thank them for my teammates. I love them, too. It was a huge moment, a historic moment and we’re looking to have many more.”
The Bengals took the field in their Super Bowl LVI white sweat suits as an estimated crowd of about 30,000 offered a thunderous sendoff to Tuesday morning’s flight to Los Angeles and Sunday’s appointment with the Rams to decide the NFL championship.
Go HERE to see the full photo gallery of the event.
They serenaded Burrow with an “MVP, MVP,” chant. They went nuts when tight end C.J. Uzomah ripped off his brace from the knee he injured in Kansas City. They screamed when hometown punter Kevin Huber told them, “Hopefully we’ll be back next week for the after party.”
“I’ve got goose bumps,” said Jim Foster, better known as Bengal Jim, who MCed the hour-long production with comedian Gary Owen. “And the great thing is that for about a half or two-thirds of them, they’ve never experienced something like this before. They weren’t here or weren’t old enough for ’88. I’m so happy for this city. And another great thing about it is how many kids were there.”
Heck, the players on the first two Super Bowl teams had never experienced anything like it. Max Montoya, the right guard on both teams, Ken Anderson, who quarterbacked the first one and safety David Fulcher, who helped lead them to the second one, found themselves in a holding room as guests of the club for the rally and couldn’t remember anything like this back in the day.
After coming down with the most famous interception in Bengals history during that electric overtime of last Sunday’s AFC championship game in Kansas City, Vonn Bell got into Paul Brown Stadium a little late Monday morning.
Call it 6:30 a.m. Still the crack of dawn for the rest of us. But for Bell, whose brutal work ethic has been bequeathed to him by Dr. Kills, that’s sleeping in.
“First one in, though,” Bell says with a Bunsen burner smile that has helped ignite head coach Zac Taylor’s locker room special chemistry. “It’s a win. After a win. Everything is good after a win. I was feeling better.”
Bell has paired the most famous interception in Bengals history with the play that put teeth in the Zac Attack and spawned this next eight days of history that ends in Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI against the Rams.
It was at the end of the worst year of his life last year and the Bengals were grinding into a late December Monday night game at PBS with rookie quarterback Joe Burrow just out of knee surgery, Taylor’s two-year regime at 4-24-1 with seven losses in the last eight games and they were down to their No. 3 quarterback.
Bell, as every Cincy school kid knows, made The Play in the second quarter when he blew up mouthy Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster with a blast that was as symbolic as it was significant. It turned into an interception to set them up for a 17-0 lead in a 27-17 win and they’ve been 15-8 since.
“Let me take you back to a couple of other plays,” says Dr. Killls, otherwise known as Vencent Bell, Vonn’s father who told his wife in K.C. he wasn’t surprised it was their son who came up with This Play. “If you go back to Ohio State-Alabama and the Saints and Panthers in a playoff game, Vonn makes big plays. He’s one of those guys that just has a knack for it.”
All Buckeyes fans know in 2014 he paved the way for Ohio State winning the first ever national playoff with his end-zone pick in the fourth quarter that preserved a six-point lead in the semifinal win over Alabama. And, he ended his first NFL playoff game in 2017 with the Saints on a 17-yard fourth-down sack of Cam Newton in a 31-26 win.
“He’s a winner,” says Vencent Bell, executive director of a Montgomery, Ala., YMCA. “He gets up at 4:30 every day. He puts in the work.”
That’s what time Vencent Bell used to start his chores on the farm when he was becoming one of the most heavily recruited players in Mississippi. It’s the only way his father would let him play at West Point High School, just across from the Alabama line. And when he practiced and played games in an All-American linebacker career, he had to find somebody to feed the chickens, hogs and cattle.
“I did more between 4:30 and 7 than most people did all day,” Vencent Bell told Bengals.com the week before the hit on Smith-Schuster. “Then I would go to school.
“A man that’s in the bed can do nothing, but a man out of bed has a chance to get ahead.”
Vonn Bell called his grandfather “Big Dad,” and he lost him in the middle of this playoff run at age 84. On top of that is the loss of Vonn’s brother Volonte in a car accident in Chattanooga, Tenn., where was an assistant basketball coach at Chattanooga State Community College.
It came just a few weeks before Vonn signed with the Bengals in the spring of 2020. A few years older, Volonte was more like Vonn’s safety-point guard twin. So close and so tight that Vonn has been calling him his “guardian angel,” this year and you’ll see how much he means to him if there’s a national anthem closeup Super Bowl Sunday. He’ll spread his arms, look to the sky and say, “Let’s go, Vee.”
“This last year has been a tough year,” Vencent Bell says. “That’s why what’s going on now is double nice. It’s almost like the Super Bowl is a double reward. It makes you shift into a different way to see things and you have a reason to celebrate.”
The last week has been one long celebration of the Bengals camaraderie on both sides of the ball, but particularly on defense. In each of the three postseason games, their last snap has ended in an interception. One preserved a win and two led to the winning points scored at the gun. They have been defined by their work in the red zone, where they have denied touchdowns on eight of 13 trips.
“Going this deep at this level the teams are getting better and better each week. Guys are going to make plays,” Vonn Bell says. “You’ve got to think about that. They get paid, they are going to go out there and make plays for their team. And they are good. They are in the one percent of the world. The collective effort of the defense we always say they cannot score a touchdown, hold them to three. And we could get a block and block the field goal. We always remind people of that. Next play mentality. Things happen, but they don’t have to score, though.”
The emergence of the Bengals began the night Vonn rang the Bell on Pittsburgh. But it has evolved with the free-agent signings of sack ace Trey Hendrickson and the trio of lead cornerbacks Mike Hilton, Chidobe Awuzie and Eli Apple, Bell’s Buckeye buddy, as well as the drafting of Cam Sample on the edge and Logan Wilson and Markus Bailey at linebacker. The proverbial nice mix of youth and experience.
All those defenders, including nose tackle D.J. Reader and his massive postseason, showed up with playoff experience. And the more pieces he’s had, the more defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo has concocted. Bell calls him “a mad scientist,” and moments after the three-man rush had solved Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and put them in the Super Bowl, he asked Anarumo, “What are you going to cook us up?”
“That’s the (biggest) thing that’s been talked about inside this locker room. It’s not about I. It’s about we,” Bell says. “How we get along so well is because we hold everybody accountable. There are no egos in the locker room. It’s family. That’s the biggest thing. And guys want everybody to eat. Everybody can be successful and we breed off that. When one guy is getting the shine, everybody will get the shine. Especially when you’re winning. There’s a lot of cameras that are going to be out there. They’re coming out to see us, just not one person. They’re coming to see us.”
The way Vencent Bell sees it, when they come and get a look at this defense, they’re going to see how it was built from the back to the front with Vonn and safetymate Jessie Bates III. Vencent calls it the B &Bs.
“When you have guys who are two driven guys, they’re alphas and guys just going out there, just want to make plays for the team and make plays for one another, it’s going to be something special,” Vonn Bell says. “He’s a smart guy, man. He knows football. He knows splits. He knows concepts. He knows what the quarterback is going to give to him. And that’s why you see him making so many plays out there in the middle of the field. He’s very detailed throughout his work. That’s the biggest thing. I’m a very detailed and through person, too. That’s the moment we clicked.”
It was Bates who tipped the ball from Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill and it was Bell who caught it at his ankles just before it touched the ground. But that won’t be the only play he’ll break down. He’ll find things he didn’t do correctly, a relentlessness he says he gets from his parents.
That was on display walking to the bus in Tennessee after he had been all over Nissan Stadium with a sack and six tackles and he called his dad, knowing he was there in the crowd.
“I told him there were things he could work on. Things that need to get done if we want to get to the next level,” Vencent Bell says. “I knew what his numbers were. Sometimes numbers don’t measure how you played. I tell him, I want you playing really well and then have the numbers.
“The league is getting better. He’s going to have to get better next year.”
That’s a tough room. Vencent says even his wife objects, at times, about how tough he can be. But these are easy, natural conversations between father and son. Vencent got the nickname “Dr. Kills,” from his 153 tackles his senior year at West Point, before head coach Frank Beamer whisked him away to Murray State when he promised “Big Dad,” that his son would be the first in the family to get a college degree.
“Vonn is creeping up past me now. Vonn is going to a whole other level,” Vencent says. “I don’t mind telling him he’s better than me. I want him to be. He’s passed me on forced fumbles and interceptions … It will be a little while before he goes past my tackling.”
But his father also knows his son has the mark on the big stages.
“When ever there’s a big game,” says Vencent Bell, getting ready to attend the biggest game of all, “you better find him.”
Loveland, Ohio – Are you ready to see the Cincinnati Bengals make Superbowl history? Our beloved city sure knows how to celebrate a Bengals victory, so we thought what better way to prepare for the Superbowl than for YOU to “Show Us Your Stripes!”
The Bengals will challenge the Los Angeles Rams for the Superbowl LVI title at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California on Sunday, February 13th at 6:30 p.m.
The Cincinnati Bengals have their eyes set on the Superbowl title for the first time since 1988 when they took on the San Francisco 49ers and lost 20-16. The Bengals have still yet to win a Superbowl but are confident that this year will be a great opportunity to win it for the first time in franchise history.
After the Bengals legendary AFC Championship win last Sunday, we knew that we wanted to celebrate and show our support for Cincinnati with the community leading up to the Superbowl. What better way to get our readers excited for the game than to showcase the city in their finest Bengals attire! We want YOU to “Show Us Your Stripes!”
From now until the day after the Superbowl we will be accepting photos of Bengals fans everywhere dressed in their Bengals gear! Photo entries can display where you have celebrated Bengals victories this year including decorations or can be as simple as a photo of you, your friends, and family cheering the Bengals on to victory. We especially want to see your black and orange decor if you have hosted a Bengals party or went somewhere to watch the game that had great decorations. You may also send in any “dressed for Bengals success” pet photos! The sky is the limit with any photos you decide to send in as we want to see some creativity and some Tiger style! If you are a business owner and you decorated your storefront or had your employees dress up in Bengals gear, we would love to see those photos as well!
Once we start receiving photo entries we will publish a couple of photos per day on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for all of the community to enjoy! The following week after the Superbowl we will publish a photo album that will include all of the photo entries we received including photos taken on Superbowl Sunday. All photo entries should be emailed to Cassie Mattia and should include the following details:
The names of everyone in the photo including where they are from.
Where and when the photo was taken.
How long you have been a Bengals fan.
Any favorite local spots that you enjoy watching Bengals games…even if it is at home!
We will be taking photo entries until Monday, February 14th.
Loveland Magazine Co-Owner and local Katie Moertle celebrating the Bengals at Eli Sports Bar & Grill!
Loveland Magazine Co-Owner Cassie Mattia’s dog Dean dressed up as a Tiger for the Bengals game!
Brody Bussa, an 8-year-old 3rd gen. Bengals fan from Milford, Ohio! Brody is dressed for “Joe BRRRRR-ow Day!””
Parker Mayhall, an 8-year-old Boyd E Smith Elementary School student ready for “Joe Burrow Day!” Parker is sporting his faux JB9 Chain but hopes to own a real one someday!
Archie Ungerbuehler, an 8-year-old die hard Joe Burrow fan from Milford, Ohio sporting his Bengals gear on “Joe Burrow Day” at McCormick Elementary!
We are so excited to feature the Bengals’ support throughout the community and can’t wait to see some incredible WHO DEY photos! Stay tuned to our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to see the first round of “Show Us Your Stripes” photos!
Curious as to where you can watch Superbowl LVI? The game will be broadcasted on NBC as well as streamed on Peacock, the NBC Sports app, and NBC Sports.com.
For your latest local sports updates stay tuned to the Loveland Salad With ME, Cassie Mattia!
Loveland, Ohio – Superintendent Mike Broadwater has announced through a school newsletter that he has closed Loveland Schools on Monday, February 14, the day after Super Bowl Sunday.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who bounced back from a left knee injury suffered in 2020 to throw for a franchise-record 34 TDs and lead the Bengals to the playoffs for the first time since 2015, is the 2021 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, chosen in voting conducted by the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA).
Burrow was on pace to break several Bengals single-season and NFL rookie passing records, along with NFL rookie passing marks before he suffered a knee injury against Washington on November 22, 2020 in his 10th game of his rookie season. He had surgery on December 2, 2020, and he embarked on a long rehab process that culminated in him taking the first snaps of Cincinnati’s 2021 training camp.
He returned to the starting lineup and led the NFL in completion percentage (70.4 percent) and yards per attempt (8.87) and was second in passer rating (108.3) in his 16 games (all starts). He completed 366 of 520 passes for 4,611 yards (sixth in the NFL) and 34 touchdowns. On December 26, Burrow set a franchise record with 525 passing yards – the fourth-highest total in NFL history – on 37 of 46 passing and four touchdowns in a 41-21 home victory over the Baltimore Ravens. He was a 2021 PFWA All-AFC selection.
Burrow is the second member of the Cincinnati franchise to receive Comeback Player of the Year honors (QB Jon Kitna in 2003) since the award was instituted in 1992.
ABOUT THE PFWA
In its 58th season in 2021, the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA) is the official voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve the public. The PFWA is made up of accredited writers who cover the NFL and the 32 teams daily. Lindsay Jones of The Athletic is the PFWA president for the 2021-22 seasons and the organization’s 30th president. Jenny Vrentas of Sports Illustrated is the PFWA’s first vice-president, Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News is the second vice-president and Mike Sando of The Athletic is the secretary-treasurer. At-large board members include USA Today’s Mike Jones, ESPN.com’s Jeff Legwold, The Athletic’s Dan Pompei and ProFootballTalk.com’s Charean Williams. Follow the PFWA at ProFootballWriters.org and on Twitter at @PFWAwriters.
Saturday marks the 77th all-time meeting between these two franchises, as the Bengals used to play the Titans twice a year in the AFC Central when they were the Houston Oilers. As these teams meet for just the second time in the playoffs, Cincinnati will look to keep its postseason mark perfect against the Titans, having won the only previous meeting 41-14 on January 6, 1991, in the Wild Card Round.
Here are 5 things to know ahead of Saturday’s Divisional Round Game against the Tennessee Titans:
1. Protect The Rock
A key reason as to why the Bengals have won four of their last five games is ball security. Joe Burrow has not thrown an interception in five straight games, as his last turnover came back in Week 13. Burrow’s 180 pass attempts without an interception is the fourth-longest streak in team history and is the second longest in the NFL this season behind Aaron Rodgers 243.
The Bengals are 10-1 on the season when they win the turnover margin or the line is even. Over the last decade, teams that have won the turnover battle in the postseason have a .744 winning percentage.
2. Tough In The Third
The Bengals defense has been stingy to start the second half. Cincinnati has not allowed a single third-quarter point in the last four games, and since they bye, teams have only scored 10 points in the third quarter on the Bengals. On the season, Cincinnati has outscored opposing teams 102-40 in the third quarter, as the 40 third-quarter points allowed is the second-fewest in the league.
3. Rivalry Renewed
The Bengals have had the upper hand in recent history against the Titans, having won five of the last seven meetings including last season’s contest. In Week 7 of 2020, the Bengals defeated the Titans in Cincinnati 31-20, in a game where Jessie Bates picked off Ryan Tannehill and Logan Wilson recorded his first career sack.
The Bengals and Titans are tied 2-2 since 2002 in games played in Tennessee.
4. Dethrone The King
Titans running back Derrick Henry is expected to play on Saturday, but a big question, is how much will the king play? Henry has been out since Week 8 with a foot injury, and despite missing the last 10 weeks of the regular season, he still finished ninth in rushing yardage with 937 yards.
Henry logged a season-high 182 yards Week 2 against Seattle and has recorded three games this season with three rushing touchdowns.
5. Wheels Up To Nashville
As the Bengals hit the road for the remainder of the playoffs, it’s a position they’ve been successful in this season. Cincinnati won five road games this season, outscoring opponents 146-61 in those contests.
Cincinnati looks to punch their ticket to the AFC Championship game for the first time since the 1988 season, and historically they’ve been successful the second week of the postseason. The Bengals have an all-time winning percentage of .667 in the second round of the playoffs.
Find yourself a C.J. 🧡 Turn up the volume for @cj_uzomah mic'd up against the Raiders!
The Cincinnati Bengals continue their run in the AFC Playoffs facing the Tennessee Titans on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Here is everything you need to know to follow the game.
TV BROADCAST
Network: CBS
Kickoff: 4:30 p.m. ET
Play-by-Play: Ian Eagle
Analyst: Charles Davis
Sideline: Evan Washburn
Rules: Gene Steratore
Download The Official Bengals App
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ONLINE
Fans can watch Saturday’s game for FREE through the Bengals app nationwide. Fans can also live stream the game on Safari on mobile iOS devices through Bengals.com.
NOTE: iOS mobile web and app users should “Allow Location Access” (via Settings > Privacy > Location Services > Safari).
*Geographic and device restrictions apply. Local & primetime games only. Data charges may apply.
The game will air on the Bengals Radio Network, led by Cincinnati flagship stations WLW-AM (700), WCKY-AM (ESPN 1530) and WEBN-FM (102.7). The pregame show begins at 3 p.m.
Play-by-Play: Dan Hoard
Analyst: Dave Lapham
Pregame Show: Wayne Box Miller
Westwood One will also air the game nationally. Check your local listings for where the game airs in your area.
Joe Burrow tries to do what the Bengals’ two NFL MVP quarterbacks never did and win a road playoff game Saturday (4:30 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Local 12) in Tennessee against the AFC’s top-seeded Titans in what is unfolding as an even-steven statistical matchup.
The Chiefs’ ouster of the Steelers Sunday night in Kansas City set the AFC’s Final Four and earned a home game against Buffalo. Standing between the Bengals and their first AFC title game since 1988 is Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill, a former pupil of Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, and Derrick Henry, a two-time NFL rushing champion coming off injury and expected to play for the first time since Halloween even though he has yet to be activated from injured reserve after returning to practice a few weeks ago.
It looks to be a duel between two of the top running backs in the game. The Bengals’ Joe Mixon finished as the league’s third-leading rusher with a career-best 1,205 after missing last season’s game against Tennessee with a foot injury that limited him to six games.
The Bengals’ AFC Divisional shot comes 33 years to the day they played Super Bowl XXIII in Miami in a game they lost a 16-13 lead in the final 34 seconds and against a franchise they beat in the 1990 Wild Card Game when the Titans were the Houston Oilers. Boomer Esiason, the ’88 MVP, engineered that one, but lost his only post-season road game the next week in Los Angeles to the Raiders.
Ken Anderson lost his first three playoff games, in Baltimore, Miami and Oakland, before leading the 1981 Bengals to Super Bowl XVI.
Burrow’s second NFL win came against the Titans back on Nov. 1, 2020 at Paul Brown Stadium when he outpitched Tannehill with a passer rating of 106.7 (249 yards, two touchdowns, no picks) to 92.8 (233 yards, two touchdowns, one interception) in a 31-20 victory in a game remembered for the Bengals starting four different offensive linemen because of injury and illness.
But it’s a much different Tennessee defense. That one ended the season ranked 28th in yards allowed while this one is 12th and that includes a No. 2 ranking against the run.
The Bengals offense, tied for seventh in scoring, plays a scoring defense ranked sixth. Cincinnati’s defense, ranked 17th in scoring, plays a Titans offense ranked at No. 15. The Bengals have a stingy run defense, too, ranked fifth, and tees it up against a Tennessee running game that is also ranked fifth despite the loss of Henry.
Turnovers? The Bengals have forced 21 and the Titans 22, but Cincinnati is tied for 16th in the NFL with an even plus-minus differential and Tennessee is tied for 20th at minus-three.
The Bengals’ banged up defensive line becomes a huge focal point in this one against the 6-3, 247-pound Henry, whose 112-yarder last year in Cincinnati came on 18 carries on his way to 2,027 yards.
The tackle spot has been particularly hit. One in the rotation, Josh Tupou (knee) is questionable. His replacement, Mike Daniels (groin) has been ruled out by Taylor after playing just one snap Saturday night. It doesn’t sound good for starting three technique, Larry Ogunjobi (foot) after he was carted off the field in the third quarter with an injury still being evaluated.
Fourth-round pick Tyler Shelvin, who has played in three games and was inactive Saturday, is an option and Taylor indicated they could also look outside the club.
Sticking with the Saturday schedule, the Bengals are off Monday, have extended practices Tuesday and Wednesday and then a brief Thursday morning workout before heading to Nashville Friday.
One of the many legacies left by former Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis is he wanted his players to know who came before them.
The Pro Bowl list in the team’s main auditorium at Paul Brown Stadium is where tight end C.J. Uzomah saw Rodney Holman’s name and that’s why he wore his No. 82 jersey at his postgame news conference that was just as wild as Saturday night’s 26-19 Wild Card victory over the Raiders.
“I’ve seen Rodney Holman’s name since I’ve been here, for seven years. I did some research and I know he was the last tight end to win a playoff game, went to a Super Bowl with the Bengals,” Uzomah said. “I thought it would be a nice tribute of things to come and kind of pay homage and say this is how it’s going to be. We’re going to run the table and win the whole thing.”
Uzomah’s research began with Holman, along with Bob Trumpy regarded as the Bengals’ best all-round tight ends catching and blocking, making it to three straight Pro Bowls from 1988-1990. That spanned the 1988 Super Bowl trip and ’90’s last playoff win. He may have also gleaned that Holman caught Boomer Esiason’s longest pass of that 41-14 win over the Oilers, a 46-yarder during his two-catch, 51-yard day that also involved six rushers going for 187 yards.
Uzomah played like a Pro Bowler Saturday night in the biggest game of his career. He was a perfect underneath weapon for quarterback Joe Burrow’s patience against the Raiders’ stubborn shells in the secondary.
Uzomah’s six catches for 64 yards marked his best day since his 91-yarder in the Oct. 24 win in Baltimore. His seven-yard touchdown catch on third down, smoked through three defenders, was the 10th play of an opening drive quarterback Joe Burrow said set the tone for a night they would score points the first five times they had the ball.
He also helped hold the Raiders’ feared pass rush, No, 1 in the league generating pressure, to two sacks and five hits.
“I feel like I put it in a good spot. I threw it right out of the break,” Burrow said of the dart he threw for the touchdown, “and C.J. did a good job reading the coverage, and understanding that he doesn’t need to go anywhere, just turn around and he’s going to get the ball.”
Uzomah said he had no choice.
“Right when I broke the huddle and saw the coverage I knew it was coming to me. I knew he was going to throw it. I just had to hang on. Right when I turned I saw his eyes and said, yep, touchdown. Let’s go,” Uzomah said. “Joe threw me a dot. That was an incredible throw.”
Maybe even more incredible is Uzomah’s touchdown celebration. It was even better than burying a time capsule under the two-yard-line, site of linebacker Germaine Pratt’s interception with 12 seconds left.
Photos from the Bengals FaceBook Page…
Uzomah wanted to pay homage to both Saturday night’s Ruler of the Jungle, Ickey Woods and his Shuffle, as well as rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase’s New Orleans’ “The Griddy,” that has become the rage with Chase’s 13 touchdowns.
So he started with “The Shuffle,” and merged it with “The Griddy” It also looked like he threw in a chug at the end to honor his old fellow tight end Tyler Eifert, the last Bengal to score 13 touchdowns.
‘Yo, if I score, I’m going to do the Ickey Shuffle into the Griddy.’ He said, ‘Not if, when,’ “Uzomah said of his talk with a friend. “I was like, ‘All right, bet.’ I probably should’ve practiced for sure because that was not well done. But hey, got in the end zone. Screw it.”
CHASE AGAIN: This is why Chase should be everyone’s NFL Rookie of the Year.
The Raiders came out in that first drive and tried to cover him one-on-one and it just doesn’t work with Burrow because they’re one in the same. Chase abused cornerback Brandon Facyson for three catches for 37 yards and Chase was off to the fifth 100-yard game in Bengals postseason history with nine catches for 116 yards. Only Marvin Jones with 130 in 2013 and Cris Collinsworth with 120 in 1982 had more and Chase had more than Collinsworth (107) and tight end Danny Ross (104) in Super Bowl XVI.
Chase said the coverage was no different than what happened in Las Vegas Nov. 21, when he had just three catches for 32 yards with a long of 17.
“We didn’t take advantage of it the first time,” Chase said. “I have that mentality that I’m unstoppable. I don’t think I can be stopped.”
Burrow and Chase didn’t hit the knockout long punch. The long was 28. But they bloodied the Raiders with lethal jabs. The one that that got the TKO and wobbled Vegas came on the Bengals’ utterly necessary scoring drive after the Raiders had cut the lead to 23-16 with 14:17 left in the game.
Six plays and less than three minutes later the Bengals were staring at third-and-seven from their own 39 and Burrow and Chase might as well have been back on the Bayou. Chase ran a go route down the right side but adjusted because he knew Burrow would be going back shoulder and cornerback Desmond Trufant would be screeching past him.
Nineteen yards. The precious points to put them up two scores came five minutes later on Evan McPherson’s 28-yard field goal with 6:46 left. The 7:31 drive did in the Raiders as much as the points.
Burrow: “Ja’Marr did a great job at the line creating some separation, and I had somewhere to put it on the back shoulder, and we’ve hit those all year, so that was a big play in the game.”
All year?
Chase: “I had a go route. Joe threw it back shoulder to slow me down and I adjusted.”
Asked how many times they had done that, Chase said, “Probably 1,000 plus. We did it in college all the time.”
The decision to take Chase with the fifth pick in the last draft keeps paying dividends in this season’s big moments showcasing the pair’s almost supernatural connection.
“College is where you have one of the most fun times, where you get to meet people for a lifetime,” Chase said. “I met Joe at college and I’ll be (friends with him) for a lifetime. He’s helping me grow, I’m helping him grow. We’re getting each other better, getting the organization better, team better and getting better on our own.”
BATES AT HIS BEST: Bengals free safety Jessie Bates III, one of the linchpins of this team since he was drafted in the second round of the 2018 draft, saved the best performance of his fourth season for his first playoff game. He had six tackles and for the second time in his career had three passes defensed. One was bigger than the next.
Two snaps before Pratt’s interception, Bates nearly had one when he knocked it away from wide receiver Zay Jones in the end zone.
Bates ended the first series of the second half in a Raiders punt when he didn’t give up on a third-and-four Raiders quarterback Derek Carr hit wide receiver Hunter Renfrow over the middle to the sidelines. As Renfrow was about to put it away for a 22-yard gain, Bates reached in at the last second and knocked it away as Renfrow was going out of bounds.
“He stood out a lot to me. He made the big play on Renfrow,” said head coach Zac Taylor, “on the third down where it got overturned, and I think he had a play in the fourth quarter on a tight end. You’re right, I’ll certainly know better when I see the tape, but I definitely felt Jessie’s presence.”
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SAM’S NIGHT: If this game belonged to anybody, it was Cincinnati native Sam Hubbard, Bates’ 2018 draft classmate. The Bengals left end typified the city’s resolve when it comes to their team on a night three of his brothers on the defensive line went down.
It started with tackle Mike Daniels, already playing for the injured Josh Tupou, leaving with a groin injury in the first series. Then in rapid succession early in the second half they lost leading sacker Trey Hendrickson to concussion protocol and three technique Larry Ogunjobi to an ankle injury that got him carted off.
Hubbard ended up playing 92 percent of the snaps, 71 of them, and can’t remember coming out in the second half.
“To me personally, it means the world. Never in my lifetime have we had a playoff win,” Hubbard said. “I feel like we broke a curse. Really, just looking up in the stands, seeing the city come alive, it’s hard to put into words what it means to everybody in the city, and I’m just really happy to be part of the team that was able to do it. We got a lot more in store.”
Hubbard was so exhausted he didn’t even know it was third down from the Bengals 10 with 3:42 left in the game and Carr needing three yards for a first down and the Raiders trailing, 26-16.
But Hubbard had enough of a rush that Carr’s pass to tight end Darren Waller hit his helmet and forced a field goal.
“We had a lot of guys go down on the defensive line. Guys stepped up and just had to grind it out,” Hubbard said. “We were trying to keep (Carr) in the pocket, doubling guys on the back end. Just grinding it out, keeping them out of the end zone, doing whatever we could. Everybody’s fighting, clawing together. I think the love we have with each other as teammates is what allowed us to bow up at the end and in the red zone so many times.”
When Carr wheeled them right back down the field, tackle B.J. Hill slowed the momentum with a sack. Both Hill (81 percent of the snaps) and nose tackle D.J. Reader (66) were immense as the only tackles for much of the second half. And rookie edge Cam Sample slid into tackle at times, which he rarely did this year. His 34 snaps (44 percent) were the third most he took this season.
SLANTS AND SCREENS: Chase was surprised his 15-yard run on a jet sweep came on fourth-and-one. It was a well-designed play that began with Burrow under center and when the Raiders tightened up they sent Chase wide right, one of the three times he carried for 23 yards.
“I haven’t played running back for a long time, but they’re giving me those tosses and getting my speed to the outside. Being hit by linebackers, I know how hits feel again. But it’s cool. Go out there and make a play with the ball in my hands,” Chase said. ” I’m built like a running back. They only do it for the receivers who are built like running backs. So I see myself doing it more.” …
Chalk up two more Bengals records for rookie kicker Evan McPherson, who already has the career record with nine field goals of at least 50. His four field goals broke the Bengals postseason record held by Horst Muhlmann in 1973 and Jim Breech’s iconic three in Super Bowl XXIII. His 14 points broke the record of 12 held by four position players: Woods in the 1988 AFC championship game, running back Stanley Wilson in the 1988 AFC Divisional, Danny Ross in Super Bowl XVI and running back Charles Alexander in the 1981 AFC Divisional …
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