Joe Burrow, Bengals back in AFC title game with rout of Bills

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals threw a big wrench into the highly anticipated travel plans of the Buffalo Bills, their fans and perhaps even the NFL offices.

Burrow threw two touchdown passes as the Bengals advanced to their second straight AFC Championship Game with a 27-10 win over the Bills on Sunday.

And it’ll be in Kansas City again — instead of in Atlanta, the neutral site where the game would have been played if Buffalo had beaten Cincinnati.

“Better send those refunds,” Burrow said, referring to the 50,000 or so tickets already sold for a game that won’t be played.

“See y’all in Atlanta!” one Bengals player was heard yelling sarcastically while the team made its way to the locker room.

The Bengals felt disrespected when the NFL began selling tickets for a would-be game in Atlanta that was dependent on the Bills and Kansas City winning this weekend.

The league decided on the first-of-its-kind conference championship neutral site setting because the Bills (13-3) finished the season a half-game behind Kansas City (14-3) after their Jan. 2 game in Cincinnati ultimately was canceled after Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated on the field.  

Hamlin’s inspirational presence while watching Sunday’s game from an end-zone suite was not enough to spark the Bills.

Instead, it was “Joe Cool” showing poise while playing in a persistent snowfall.

Burrow completed his first nine passes for 105 yards in leading Cincinnati to a 14-0 lead after its first two possessions. Ja’Marr Chase opened the scoring with a 28-yard touchdown reception 3:20 into the game, followed by Burrow’s 15-yard TD pass to Hayden Hurst eight minutes later.

“The bigger the moment gets, the calmer he gets,” coach Zac Taylor said of Burrow, who improved his playoff record to 5-1. “Our guys believe. They walk on the field ready to attack.”

Joe Mixon scored on a 1-yard run and Evan McPherson kicked field goals from 20 and 28 yards in a game in which the Bengals never trailed.

“We were expecting their best punch,’’ Bills quarterback Josh Allen said, “and they came out and punched us.”

Cincinnati advanced to the AFC Championship Game in consecutive years for the first time in franchise history and again will face Kansas City and quarterback Patrick Maholmes.

“It’s going to be a fun one,” said Burrow, who went 23-for-36 for 242 yards. “Two of the top guys in the league, two of the top teams in the league, great defenses, great overall teams, great coaches.”

The Bills’ playoff run ended in the divisional round for a second straight season, including a 42-36 overtime loss to Kansas City last year. Bills receiver Stefon Diggs was so upset, he was spotted leaving the locker room with much of his gear on shortly after the game ended before being coaxed by a teammate to return.

“He’s a competitive guy. What makes him good is what you saw,” coach Sean McDermott said. “It hurts. I wouldn’t want a guy that doesn’t hurt. We put it all on the line out there and tonight it wasn’t good enough.”

The Bengals mixed in their running attack to keep the Bills off balance in a first half in which Cincinnati outgained Buffalo 274-135 in total yards (and 412-325 overall). Mixon finished with 105 yards rushing, one short of the Bengals’ total in their previous two games.

“Domination from start to finish,” Burrow said. “That’s what we expected. Job’s not finished.”

The Bengals held one of the NFL’s top offenses to a season-low 10 points. The Cincinnati defense got a chance to celebrate by making snow angels in the end zone after Cam Taylor-Britt intercepted Allen’s attempt at the goal line with 62 seconds left.

Allen finished 25-for-42 for 265 yards. “They came out, they played hard,” he said. “We just didn’t have it today.”

Hamlin was whisked into the stadium in a security vehicle and led directly into the Bills’ locker room about an hour before kickoff. He later was joined by his mother, Nina, and younger brother, Damir. He watched the game from a suite in one end zone and was pictured on the videoboard at the two-minute warning in the first half with Cincinnati facing second-and-goal at Buffalo’s 5.