Who Dey! First playoff road win sends Bengals to AFC Championship

Evan McPherson nailed a 52-yard field goal as time expired to give the Bengals a 19-16 victory over the top-seeded Titans in the second round of the playoffs Saturday at Nissan Stadium. Cincinnati will play for the AFC Championship on Jan. 30.

After a defensive battle in the first half, the Bengals’ offense put together its first touchdown drive to open the second half for a 16-6 advantage and seemed to be building momentum when Mike Hilton picked off Ryan Tannehill for a redzone stop.

But, the offense ended up going three-and-out, and just like that, the Titans were in control.

Five minutes later, former Bengals kicker Randy Bullock’s field goal made it a seven-point game, and Tennessee got the ball right back when Amani Hooker picked off Joe Burrow the next play from scrimmage. Burrow’s pass skipped off Samaje Perine’s hands, and Hooker caught it just before the ball touched the ground, as confirmed by a review.

Tennessee then tied the game on A.J. Brown’s 33-yard touchdown catch to make it 16-all going into the fourth quarter.

Joe Burrow’s seventh sack of the game forced the Bengals to punt on the next drive, but the defense stepped up to force a turnover on downs with Markus Bailey and Wilson stopping Derrick Henry on fourth-and-1.

The Titans began their final drive with less than three minutes left before Wilson made the play of the day for the defense on Tannehill’s third interception of the day.

Cincinnati’s defense had led the way in the first half, with Jessie Bates setting the tone with an interception on the first play from scrimmage. Bates’ second pick of the season put the Bengals on the Tennessee 42-yard line and set up Evan McPherson’s 38-yard field goal, but it was evident from that first possession how much of a problem the Titans’ pass rush was going to be.

Burrow was sacked on his first snap, and a second one, on third-and-9, was negated by a fortunate delay of game penalty that wiped the play. McPherson wouldn’t have been looking at a 54-yarder but instead the Bengals got another chance from more favorable position.

Another sack put the Bengals behind the chains after Burrow had beaten a blitz to find Ja’Marr Chase on a short pass he turned into a 57-yard pickup before Hooker chased him down. They once again settled for a McPherson field goal to take a 6-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Tennessee had a chance to pull ahead after Henry scored on a direct snap with 6:07 remaining before halftime, but the two-point conversion run failed following a Bengals’ penalty on the PAT setup.

Cincinnati reached the redzone once in the first half but Burrow’s fifth sack of the day pushed the offense back for a 12-yard loss, and the Bengals again leaned on McPherson. This time he made the 54-yarder to regain the lead at 9-6 with 1:35 left.

Burrow finished with 348 yards despite being sacked nine times. Henry, in his first game back since a Week 8 foot injury, had 62 yards on 20 carries.