The Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals played in the NFL AFC conference championship on Sunday, January 29th, 2023, the game was played in Arrowhead stadium because the Chiefs had been the #1 seed (13-4) and the Bengals the #3 seed (12-4). The final score of this intense match-up was 20-23 With a Chiefs victory. 

Many NFL fans who watched the game (especially Bengals fans) say it was rigged in the chief’s favor because of gentle and missed calls that could have made the game’s turnout different. If this game turned out to be a Bengals win, many fans would be happy or heartbroken. The most controversial ref call was when the Chiefs ran a play on third-and-9 that ended short of the first-down marker. As the Chiefs’ offense left the field for the punting unit to come on, the officials met to discuss the clock. The result of that conversation was that the third-down play would not count because the clock mistakenly ran off extra time after the second-down play in that series. The effects of that weren’t felt until later: after a defensive penalty on the second third-down play gave Kansas City a first down, the Chiefs gained just 1 yard on the next three downs and had to punt, but the extra plays took 1:10 off the clock. Another one was when on the play in which Joseph Ossai would enter Bengals infamy, there was an  argument that officials missed defensive lineman Trey Hendrickson being held. An offensive holding penalty would have offset Ossai’s clear shove of Patrick Mahomes out of bounds. Lastly, The Bengals eventually found themselves facing a third-and-16 after an intentional grounding penalty on second down, despite Cincinnati running back Samaje Perine seemingly being in the area of Joe Burrow’s throw. 

The Chiefs won the Super Bowl after that, against the Eagles and it was their second ring. Also it caused a Chiefs dynasty and probably way more rings to come.                                      

The Chiefs game was great no matter what the refs called, and the Bengals and Chiefs are greatly proven by their records and history. The game was still loved by many and will be known as a great game forever.