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A16 sports
Tuesday 1 February 2022
Improbable run has Bengals saying "Why not us?"

By TIM DAHLBERG for every mistake they
AP Sports Columnist made.
Money Mac was going to "We've been a second half
deliver, just as Joe Burrow team all year," Burrow said.
did a few moments earlier "We didn't want to be that
and the Bengals' defense way but that's kind of how it
did for the entire second worked out."
half and more. They had That's probably not the
come too far down this im- best game plan for a Su-
probable road not to finish per Bowl, but these Bengals
things off, even if history seem to believe, all the way
and the wrong end of a from the top on down. Tay-
coin flip threatened to de- lor talked afterward how he
rail their best laid plans. expected his tired defense
Evan McPherson — aka to come up with a big play
Money Mac — was as good to begin overtime — and it
with his game winner as a did. He talked about Bur-
handful of $100 bills, not to row always seeming to find
anyone's surprise. This was some way to gain yards
a kicker, you might remem- when needed most, some-
ber, who told teammates thing he did from the sec-
last week that they were ond quarter on.
going to the AFC champi- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) holds the Lamar Hunt trophy after an AFC cham- And he talked about what
onship game even before pionship NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022, in Kansas City, it meant to a city that nev-
he hit the winning field goal Mo. er gets a mention when the
to beat Tennessee. Associated Press conversation turns to the
What was surprising was NFL elite.
Patrick Mahomes made a They're not content just to Fade them at your own risk, beating and looked for a "You can't help but think
big mistake in a game the be there. though, or you might end warm place to relax during about all the people back
Kansas City Chiefs were "We were made for this up like the bettor who put the offseason. in Cincinnati celebrating
about to put away as the moment," said safety Vonn $200,000 on the Chiefs at But a funny thing hap- right now," Taylor said. "I'm
final seconds ran out in the Bell, whose interception of Caesars Sportsbook when pened. The Chiefs failed so happy for the city of Cin-
first half. Even more surpris- a tipped pass led to the they were up 21-3, certain to score the touchdown cinnati. They've waited for
ing was the way an unher- winning field goal. "Why not that the paltry 10 grand just before halftime that this moment."
alded Cincinnati defense us? they would have made might have put the game They got what they were
suddenly rose up to put the That question would have was free money indeed. out of reach. Mahomes waiting for, 33 years after
clamps on the high-pow- been laughable two years "It's a special team capa- compounded the error losing to San Francisco in
ered Chiefs, then made a ago when the Bengals ble of doing special things," with an ill-advised toss that the Super Bowl. The Ben-
play in overtime that made were the worst team in the Bengals coach Zac Taylor cost them a field goal, too, gals delivered to a man,
the lost coin flip moot. NFL. There weren't a lot of said. "We're not surprised, when time ran out at the and their rookie kicker fin-
Who Dey? Not too many believers when the play- it's where we were meant half. ished off the 27-24 win with
people outside Cincinnati offs began three weeks to be." From then on, the Chiefs his 12th field goal in 12 post-
knew just a few weeks ago. ago, either, even as Bur- The way the Chiefs played looked tight. They seemed season attempts, an NFL re-
They do now. The Bengals row warned that his team early Sunday, the only tentative. Mahomes, who cord.
are Super Bowl bound for should be taken more seri- place the Bengals seemed could do no wrong early, Afterward, Burrow flashed
the first time since Ickey ously. destined for was a plane suddenly couldn't do any- the smile of a victor and
Woods was dancing the They'll be underdogs for a ride home. thing right. even get a few laughs
shuffle more than three third straight game in the Down 21-10 with Kansas And Burrow, the No. 1 draft when asked whether the
long decades ago. Super Bowl, too, with the City just a few yards from pick who grew up only a glittering large pendant
And here's a tip for those Rams a 3 1/2-point pick yet another score, they few hours outside Cincin- around his neck contained
betting the game at home: at home in Los Angeles. could have taken their nati, made the Chiefs pay real diamonds.q

Vandalized plaque honoring Jackie Robinson

to be displayed

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — one had shot the plaque Black player. of the 75th anniversary
A plaque honoring base- multiple times. Robinson's hometown re- of Robinson's debut with
ball legend Jackie Robin- Curator and museum vice placed the damaged the Brooklyn Dodgers. The
son that was vandalized in president Ray Doswell told marker, with help from the plaque is expected to be
Georgia is coming to Kan- the Kansas City Star that league, and added an- permanently loaned to
sas City's Negro Leagues displaying the defaced other marker at a library the Kansas City museum
Baseball Museum to be marker is an opportunity last week. for regular display.
Jackie Robinson, infielder put on display. to teach the public about The vandalized marker is Museum community en-
for the Brooklyn Dodgers, The sign was erected in Robinson's story and com- slated to go on display gagement manager Kiona
swings his bat in this ac- 2001 outside the birth- bat hate. around mid-April, after a Sinks said in a tweet that
tion pose at Ebbett's Field place of Robinson near Robinson broke Major display case is built and the vandalized marker will
in Brooklyn, N.Y., on May 9,
1951. Cairo, Georgia. Communi- League Baseball's color spot secured in the mu- "serve as a reminder that
Associated Press ty members there discov- barrier in 1947 when he seum, to coincide with the ugliness of America's
ered last year that some- became the league's first the museum's celebration past persists to this day."q