The Kansas City Chiefs are on their way to New Orleans to participate in Super Bowl LIX and to try and be the first-ever team to three-peat as Super Bowl champions. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals were watching the entire playoffs from home, as they also did a year ago.
It felt as though the Chiefs and Bengals would be squaring off for a key meeting in the playoffs every year after they met in the AFC Championship Game in 2022 and 2023 but that's not what's gone down. Since K.C. knocked the Bengals out of the playoffs in 2023, Cincinnati has failed to even get into the postseason while the Chiefs have gone on to win two Super Bowls, giving them four total (three in the Patrick Mahomes/Andy Reid era).
Why are we talking about the Bengals the week before the Chiefs' fifth Super Bowl appearance in a six-year span? Well, because it turns out, the way that Kansas City clinched its latest Super Bowl berth was a major thorn in Bengals fans' sides.
With the Chiefs facing a 3rd-and-9 on the Bills' 35-yard-line, a first down was necessary to ice the game. Scared teams probably wouldn't have thrown the ball in that spot because a dropped pass would mean the clock would stop running and there was 1:35 remaining and the Bills would have gotten the ball right back.
Well, the Chiefs don't played scared. Mahomes threw a pass to Samaje Perine, who scrambled 17 yards for the first down and ended the game. Why is this something that bothers Bengals fans? Well, Perine spent three seasons in Cincinnati, serving as their backup running back from 2020 to 2022. Not only did they have to watch the Chiefs win yet another AFC Championship but one of their former players helped them do it.
Samaje Perine cementing Chiefs playoff win drove Bengals fans mad
Bengals fans didn't handle Perine icing the game well. Some even went as far as accusing the Chiefs of running this play on purpose, just to stick it to the Bengals. No, the Chiefs didn't care about the Bills at all, they were only worried about making life suck more for Cincinnati (sarcasm, of course). Another fan pointed out the cruelty of the football gods.
No matter how you look at it, this moment is pretty funny. While I highly doubt the Chiefs decided that, with the season on the line, to throw a pass to Samaje Perine of all people, the fact that Bengals fans think that might be the case is comical. Chiefs fans are thankful that Perine, who was a nice receiving back for K.C. this year, caught the pass and did enough to get Kansas City the victory.
If this play also happens to tick Bengals fans off as well, then so be it. The best of both worlds.