The Bengals dominated a Bills offense that had averaged 28.4 points per game, advancing to the AFC title game for the second straight season.
— The Cincinnati Bengals are headed back to the AFC Championship Game.
The defending conference champions showed why they might be the best team in the AFC for the second straight year, defeating the Buffalo Bills 27-10 in the divisional round to set up another title tilt against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Sunday’s game in Buffalo was Cincinnati’s most commanding playoff performance over the past two years, including its run to the Super Bowl last season. It was a further indicator that this season’s Cincinnati team is better than the one that fell 23-20 to the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI last February.
Cincinnati never had a chance to stake its claim as the AFC’s top seed in the regular season. But the Bengals underscored their merits in Buffalo.
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Troubling trend: Cincinnati has to be concerned about the future of its offensive line. Bengals center Ted Karras appeared to play through an undisclosed injury during the game. The television broadcast indicated Karras had a right knee issue, but he fought through it to finish the game. The Bengals can’t afford to lose any more offensive linemen. Cincinnati began Sunday’s divisional game with three reserves starting. If Karras goes down, too, that leaves rookie left guard Cordell Volson as the only Week 1 starter on the unit. There is some solace for Cincinnati’s offensive line, however. Even with the backups in the fold, the Bengals ran the ball effectively and did a good job of protecting Joe Burrow throughout the game.
QB breakdown: This was one of the best playoff performances of Burrow’s young career. He was 23-of-36 for 242 yards and two touchdowns and completed his first nine passes of the game. Even some of the incompletions, including a would-be touchdown throw to Ja’Marr Chase that was nullified, were impressive.
