Three numbers that mattered in Kansas City Chiefs’ 23-20 win vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Here are three numbers that helped determine the result in the Kansas City Chiefs’ 23-20 home win against the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium.

5

While battling a high ankle sprain, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes showed fearlessness and toughness on the game’s biggest play.

Facing a third-and-4 on the Cincinnati 47-yard line with 17 seconds left, Mahomes rolled out of the pocket and called to a teammate for a block and he hobbled and stumbled forward for five yards and a first down out of bounds. Cincinnati’s Joseph Ossai also pushed him late out of bounds, tacking on 15 yards to move the Chiefs to field-goal range with 8 seconds left.

Harrison Butker made the play count, drilling the 45-yard field goal to send the Chiefs to the Super Bowl against the Philadephia Eagles.

116

KC leaned heavily on Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a day when most of its offensive players were dealing with injures.

Valdes-Scantling had six catches for 116 yards — his highest total of the season. That included a 19-yard touchdown catch from Mahomes on third-and-10 in the third quarter.

-6.0

One of the biggest plays of the game was a literal slip.

The Chiefs had a 20-13 lead late in the third quarter and were driving into the Bengals territory when Mahomes had a pass attempt slip backwards out of his hands.

Cincinnati’s Sam Hubbard fell on the loose ball, and six plays later, the Bengals scored to tie it at 20.

Mahomes’ gaffe was worth negative-6.0 expected points according to the advanced box score at RBsdm.com — one the most significant turning points of the contest.

This story was originally published January 29, 2023 at 9:16 PM with the headline "Three numbers that mattered in Kansas City Chiefs’ 23-20 win vs. Cincinnati Bengals."

Jesse Newell

The Kansas City Star

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Jesse Newell covered the Chiefs for The Star until August 2025. He won an EPPY for best sports blog and previously was named top beat writer in his circulation by AP’s Sports Editors. His interest in sports analytics comes from his math teacher father, who handed out rulers to Trick-or-Treaters each year.