The 2023 AFC Championship between the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs ended in controversy.
This game was close throughout, as it went back and forth throughout the contest.
Tied at 20, the Chiefs made a fourth-quarter run, which was capped off by an unnecessary roughness penalty on the Bengals.
This sealed the game for the Chiefs, as they just needed a 45-yard field goal to win the game, which Harrison Butker made with ease.
Months after this game, Tyler Boyd commented that, without his injury in that contest, the Bengals would have overtaken the Chiefs.
Tyler Boyd says Bengals would've defeated Chiefs in AFC title game had he not left with thigh injury: "I was the key factor"https://t.co/lcimDBv519 pic.twitter.com/kR2vxib24N
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) May 31, 2023
As articulated in an article on NFL.com, Boyd only played 15 snaps during the AFC Championship.
Boyd called himself the “key factor” in this game.
During the game, he fell to a deep thigh bruise, resulting in his inability to continue.
Boyd also said, “I wish I was able to do it, but things happen.”
The Bengals and Chiefs have cultivated one of the most heated current rivalries in the NFL.
Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow have staked themselves as two of the top AFC quarterbacks, resulting in great matchups whenever they play.
Before this year’s AFC Championship, Mahomes and the Chiefs hadn’t beaten Burrow.
While they did get their revenge in the title game, it’s clear that this won’t be a cakewalk moving forward.
The Chiefs will get another chance to prove that this victory wasn’t a fluke, as these teams will face off on New Year’s Eve 2023.
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