Kansas City Chiefs reach their 3rd Super Bowl in 4 years, beating the Cincinnati Bengals on a late field goal in the AFC title game

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes scrambled for a first down on his badly sprained right ankle, then was shoved late out of bounds by Joseph Ossai, giving Harrison Butker a chance to kick a 45-yard field goal with 3 seconds left that gave the Kansas City Chiefs a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC title game Sunday night.

The Chiefs finally beat the Bengals after three straight losses, including a three-point overtime defeat in last year’s conference championship game, and will play the Philadelphia Eagles — coach Andy Reid’s old team — in their third Super Bowl in four years.

“I’ve watched them all year long, great quarterback, great entire team,” Mahomes said of the Eagles. “It’s going to be a great challenge for us, but I’m going to celebrate this one first.

“I don’t think we have any cigars, but we’ll be ready to go in the Super Bowl.”

Mahomes, who hurt his ankle against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the divisional round, threw for 326 yards and two touchdowns, even though he was missing three wide receivers because of injuries by the end.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling led the way with 116 yards and a touchdown, while tight end Travis Kelce — bad back and all — had seven catches for 78 yards and a score.

Yet it was Mahomes on his balky right ankle, rather than with his strong right arm, who rescued the Chiefs.

“At some points in games, you’ve got to just put it all on the line,” Mahomes said. “The defense gave us a couple chances to get in field-goal range, we didn’t get there. The defense got another stop for us and I knew I was going to get there somehow.

“So I just put it all on the line and we got in field-goal range, and we’re at Arrowhead now and we’re in.”

The Chiefs got a crucial sack from Chris Jones to force a punt with 39 seconds left, and shaky return man Skyy Moore broke free for 29 yards on the return. On third-and-4 at the Bengals 47, Mahomes eluded pressure and scrambled toward the Bengals sideline, barely picking up the first down before Ossai gave him a shove from behind.

Penalty flags flew, the ball moved 15 yards closer and Butker’s kick barely had enough to get over the crossbar.

Joe Burrow, who was sacked five times and was wobbly by the end, finished with 270 passing yards to go with a touchdown and two interceptions for the Bengals. Tee Higgins had six catches for 83 yards and the score.

The Chiefs were able to do early what the Buffalo Bills could not in last week’s divisional round: They ran roughshod over an ailing Bengals offensive line missing two starters because of injuries with another bothered by a sore knee.

Burrow was sacked three times in the first quarter and the Bengals offense did not gain a single yard.

Mahomes, whose ankle had been the subject of speculation all week, looked just fine leading the Chiefs to a field goal on their opening possession. And when they got the ball back, Mahomes did it again, but only after Kadarius Toney failed to pull in a nifty throw for a would-be touchdown — the incompletion was upheld upon review.

The Bengals finally moved the ball in the second quarter, but they also had to settle for Evan McPherson’s chip-shot field goal.

So much for two of the league’s highest-scoring offenses.

The Chiefs finally reached the end zone late in the second quarter, moving briskly downfield behind a couple of nice grabs by Valdes-Scantling. The Bengals held on third-and-1 at their 14-yard line, but the Chiefs went for it and Mahomes hit Kelce loosely covered by Jessie Bates III for the touchdown.

The Bengals drove 90 yards in the closing minutes of the half but added only a field goal to get within 13-6 at the break.

Turns out their offense was just hitting its stride — and another classic was brewing.

After the Chiefs went three-and-out to start the second half, Burrow led the Bengals downfield, bolting through a yawning hole in the defense for a third-down conversion before hitting Higgins from 27 yards out to knot the game at 13.

Mahomes, suddenly down three wide receivers and beginning to limp, gamely pressed on. He answered Burrow with a touchdown drive of his own, capped by a third-down throw to Valdes-Scantling to regain the lead.

The Chiefs had a chance to gain some breathing room later in the third quarter, but Mahomes lost control of the ball before throwing a pass and the Bengals pounced on the fumble. Six plays later — including an audacious fourth-down throw from Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase — Samaje Perine ran into the end zone to tie it at 20.

Burrow gave the Chiefs a chance when his deep throw to Higgins on third down was batted into the air and picked by rookie cornerback Josh Williams. Mahomes managed to move the Chiefs past midfield, but two runs went nowhere and his third-down throw to Jerick McKinnon was well short, forcing them to punt in Bengals territory.

The Chiefs defense held, though, giving Mahomes and their offense one more try.

The Chiefs got a second chance on third down early in the fourth quarter when referee Ron Torbert said the game clock and play clock would begin on his whistle. The only problem was the play came after an incompletion, so the game clock should not have started.

The Bengals stopped the Chiefs, but Torbert ruled the play didn’t count because of the clock goof — and the Chiefs wound up getting a first down on Eli Apple’s defensive holding penalty. The Chiefs eventually punted anyway.

Bengals: WR Tyler Boyd left with a quad injury early in the second half.

Chiefs: Lost CB L’Jarius Sneed (concussion), LB Willie Gay Jr. (shoulder) and WRs Toney (ankle), Mecole Hardman (pelvis) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee).

The Chiefs are headed to their third Super Bowl in four seasons. They ended a 50-year championship drought when they rallied to beat the San Francisco 49ers in February 2020, then lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the following year.