THE BULLETIN • SUNDAY, JANUARY 30, 2022 B3
NFL PLAYOFFS | AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Young, hungry Bengals in Kansas City to face grizzled Chiefs
Cincinnati, and there’s another
half-dozen players from each
team that probably had a good
argument to make it.
As it stands, the Chiefs have
Mahomes joining wide re-
ceiver Tyreek Hill, tight end
Travis Kelce, defensive tackle
Chris Jones and safety Tyrann
Mathieu along with new left
tackle Orlando Brown Jr. The
Bengals are sending Chase
along with running back Joe
Mixon and defensive end Trey
Hendrickson.
Of course, players for the
winner Sunday will be heading
to the Super Bowl instead.
Next up
BY DAVE SKRETTA
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The
Kansas City Chiefs have been
in this position before. Walk-
ing across the cold Arrowhead
Stadium parking lot, dressing
in their revamped locker room,
strolling through the narrow
tunnel and spilling onto the
field for the AFC title game.
In fact, the Chiefs have done
it each of the last three years.
It will be a wholly new expe-
rience for the Cincinnati Ben-
gals, though, when they follow
the same path Sunday with
a trip to the Super Bowl on
the line. Only a couple special
teams players were alive, and
coach Zac Taylor just starting
out in elementary school, when
they beat the Bills in January
1989 in their last trip to a con-
ference championship game.
“I think it helps this time
of year having a pretty good
idea of what this is all about,”
acknowledged Chiefs coach
Andy Reid, who can tie Tom
Landry for second in NFL his-
tory with his 20th playoff win.
“They know how we go about
our business, the intensity,
whether it’s practice or what we
expect out of the game.”
That experience came in
handy last Sunday, when the
Chiefs went 44 yards in 13 sec-
onds to kick a field goal and
force overtime against Buffalo.
Patrick Mahomes and Co. pro-
ceeded to win the coin toss, and
Cincinnati at Kansas City
When: noon Sunday
TV: CBS
ultimately the game, by march-
ing right downfield for a touch-
down without giving the Bills
another chance with the ball.
It was the kind of unforgetta-
ble, heart-stopping victory that
can give an NFL team plenty of
momentum for the rest of the
postseason — provided they
get over it quickly enough to
prepare for the next one.
“It was an awesome game
and win that we’ll remember
forever,” Mahomes said, “but
we’re not done. We’re trying to
get out there and win an AFC
championship and try to get to
the Super Bowl.”
The Bengals had a thriller in
their own right to get past top-
seeded Tennessee last weekend.
They blew a 16-6 second-half
lead, then put rookie Evan
McPherson in position to kick
a winning 52-yard field goal as
time expired.
It was the first road playoff
win in franchise history. Now,
they’re after another in Kansas
City.
49ers
Continued from B1
Jason Behnken/AP
L.A. Rams wide receiver Cooper
Kupp (10) pulls in a pass from
quarterback Matthew Stafford
during a divisional round playoff
game against the Tampa Bay Buc-
caneers Jan. 23 in Tampa, Florida.
Chapter 11
Shanahan has won seven of
his 10 meetings with McVay
in their concurrent half-de-
cade careers. Preparing for this
showdown was no challenge
for both coaches, and they say
execution will win the NFC ti-
tle, not trick plays or surprises.
“You know each other so
well,” Shanahan said.
“We knew what the tape was
going to look like before we
turned it on, and they are the
exact same way. … We are go-
ing to see who makes the most
plays and who makes the least
mistakes.”
Not rocket science
The 49ers’ formula for beat-
Charlie Riedel/AP
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) throws a pass
during overtime in a divisional round playoff game against the Buffalo
Bills Jan. 23 in Kansas City, Missouri.
“We’re excited about the op-
portunity,” Bengals quarterback
Joe Burrow said. “If you want
to do the things that we want to
do, that’s a team that you’re go-
ing to have to beat every single
year. The AFC has run through
them for four straight years.
“So, you know, we’re excited
about the opportunity. We’re
gonna have a great week of
practice and be ready to go.”
Familiar faces
The Bengals beat the Chiefs
on Jan. 2 in Cincinnati in a
back-and-forth thriller that
ended when McPherson
drilled a 20-yard field goal as
time expired. Burrow threw
ing the Rams has been fairly
simple.
San Francisco generates
four-man pressure from its vi-
cious defensive front to slow
LA’s offense. When the Niners
have the ball, Jimmy Garop-
polo executes a quick-hit pass-
ing game designed to avoid the
Rams’ vaunted pass rush while
exploiting Los Angeles’ unim-
pressive linebackers and safe-
ties in coverage.
McVay and his players know
all of this. Whether they have
any correct answers to the
same test they’ve already failed
twice this year will be revealed
Sunday.
Gold rush
San Francisco’s defensive
front four has been domi-
nant recently, generating five
sacks three weeks ago against
for 446 yards and four touch-
downs, most of it going to
wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase,
while Mahomes threw for 259
yards and two scores against
the lightly regarded Cincinnati
secondary.
“The Chiefs do a good job of
employing a variety of schemes
to try to keep you off balance,”
Taylor said. “I thought Joe and
Ja’Marr did a good job of be-
ing on the same page in that
game.”
Star power
The two teams combined
to send nine players to the
Pro Bowl this season, six from
Kansas City and three from
the Rams, and again in both
playoff games. Arik Armstead
has 5½ sacks, and Nick Bosa
got three. The Niners’ depth
up front has been difficult to
match: San Francisco is the
first team to have back-to-back
playoff games with at least five
sacks in the same season since
Washington did it in the 1991
playoffs on the way to the ti-
tle. The only team ever to do it
three straight times in a season
was Washington in the 1987
playoffs, also on the way to a
championship.
“Usually the teams at this
point in the year all have good
pass rushes,” Shanahan said. “I
think it’s pretty hard to get to
this point when you don’t have
one.”
Passing thought
Stafford earned his first two
Swimming
Brady
Continued from B1
Continued from B1
Grace Benson led the way
for the Bend High girls team,
winning the 200 individual
medley (2:13.90) and the 100
breaststroke (1:08.17); she also
helped the Lava Bears’ 200
medley relay (1:54.66) fin-
ish first. Makalu Ostrom also
emerged victorious in a pair of
individual races for Bend, win-
ning both the boys 500 free-
style and the 100 backstroke
(59.61).
Mountain View had first-
place finishes from Elli Wil-
liams in the 50 freestyle
(25.36), Lexi Williams in the
100 freestyle (55.12) and Si-
enna LeFeber in the 100 back-
stroke (1:01.89).
Both Williams and LeFeber
were also part of the first-place
finishing 200 freestyle relay
(1:46.38).
Caldera, a school still with
only freshmen and sopho-
mores in its first year of exis-
tence, had a strong showing,
finishing second among boys
teams with 302 points. Fresh-
man Campbell McKean won
both of his individual events,
That post was removed,
and Yee released this state-
ment: “I understand the
advance speculation about
Tom’s future. Without getting
into the accuracy or inaccu-
racy of what’s being reported,
Tom will be the only per-
son to express his plans with
complete accuracy.
He knows the realities of
the football business and
planning calendar as well as
anybody, so that should be
soon.”
Brady led the NFL in yards
passing (5,316), touchdowns
(43), completions (485) and
attempts (719), but the Buc-
caneers lost at home to the
Los Angeles Rams last Sun-
day in the divisional round.
Brady won six Super Bowls
with the New England Pa-
triots in 20 seasons playing
for coach Bill Belichick. He
joined the Buccaneers in 2020
and led them to the second
Super Bowl title in franchise
history.
Brady would leave the
sport as the career leader in
yards passing (84,520) and
TDs (624).
He’s the only player to win
more than five Super Bowls
and was MVP of the game
five times.
Widely considered the
greatest quarterback to play
the game, Brady won three
NFL MVP awards, was a
first-team All-Pro three times
and was selected to the Pro
Bowl 15 times. He was 243-
73 in his career in the regu-
lar season and 35-12 in the
playoffs.
Overlooked by every team
coming out of Michigan,
Brady was eventually selected
by the Patriots in the sixth
Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin photos
Bend High’s Grace Benson competes in the 200-yard individual medley
during the Bend City Meet Friday night at Juniper Swim & Fitness.
touching the wall first in the
200 freestyle (1:52.50) and the
100 breaststroke (1:02.27). Cal-
vin Schwarz won the boys 100
freestyle in 57.49.
Perhaps the most thrilling
moment of the meet came in
the boys 500 freestyle, which
turned into a duel between
Bend High’s Makalu Ostrom competes in the 500-yard freestyle during
the Bend City Meet Friday night at Juniper Swim & Fitness.
Bend High’s Ostrom and Sum-
mit’s Liam Gilman.
After nine laps, the mara-
thon turned into a sprint in
which both swimmers touched
the wall and immediately
looked up at the scoreboard to
see who got there first.
In the end, by a fraction of
a second, Ostrom touched the
wall first, winning in 5:00.57
over Gilman’s 5:00.72.
“It was really close,” said Gil-
man. “It gives you a lot of mo-
tivation when it is that close.”
After its strong showing on
Friday, Summit looks toward
having a successful Moun-
tain Valley Conference district
meet on Feb. 11 followed by
the state meet the week after.
“We are really excited,” said
Robeson. “I think we have a
good team with a lot of depth
and we are excited to see what
they are capable of doing at
district and state.”
Reporter: 541-383-0307,
brathbone@bendbulletin.com
Dynamic duo
Burrow and Chase are 6-0
when playing together in post-
season games, including their
four games together at LSU,
when Chiefs running back
Clyde Edwards-Helaire was a
teammate. Burrow has aver-
aged 381.8 yards passing with
22 TD throws during those six
games, while Chase is averag-
ing 106.8 yards receiving and
has four of the scores.
Keeping Joe clean
Figuring out how to better
protect Burrow has been a pri-
ority for the Bengals this week.
They’ve struggled all season,
especially against the better
pass-rushing teams, and Bur-
row was sacked a stunning
nine times by Tennessee.
“There’s a lot of things that
Next up
San Francisco at Los Angeles Rams
When: 3:30 p.m. Sunday
TV: FOX
career playoff victories over
the past two weeks, playing
nearly flawlessly and justifying
his move to LA after a dozen
seasons in Detroit. But he has
never beaten Garoppolo, the
much-maligned San Francisco
passer whose occasional mis-
takes haven’t stopped him from
going 4-1 as a starter in his
playoff career and 3-0 against
Stafford.
round of the 2000 NFL draft
with the 199th overall pick.
He replaced an injured Drew
Bledsoe as the starter in 2001
and led New England to a
Super Bowl victory over the
heavily favored Rams that
season.
Brady went on to lead the
Patriots to Super Bowl victo-
ries over the Carolina Pan-
thers following the 2003 sea-
son and Philadelphia Eagles
after the 2004 season. No
team has since repeated as
champions.
But New England wouldn’t
win another one for a decade,
twice losing to the New York
Giants in the Super Bowl, in-
cluding a 17-14 defeat on Feb.
3, 2008, that prevented the
Patriots from completing a
perfect season.
Brady earned his fourth
ring when the Patriots held
off Seattle thanks to Malcolm
Butler’s interception at the
goal line in the Super Bowl
after the 2014 season.
Two years later, in the big-
gest Super Bowl comeback,
he led the Patriots out of a
28-3 deficit in the third quar-
ter against Atlanta to win in
overtime.
After losing to the Eagles
and backup quarterback
Nick Foles the following year,
Brady got his sixth champi-
onship when New England
shut down the Rams follow-
ing the 2018 season.
He joined the Buccaneers
in 2020 amid a pandemic,
instilling a winning culture
for a franchise that hadn’t
won a playoff game in 18
years. With his old friend
Rob Gronkowski joining him
in Tampa, Brady helped the
Buccaneers become the first
team to play in a Super Bowl
in its stadium. Naturally,
Brady won again.
play into it, starting with me
putting him in the best posi-
tion, putting our guys in the
best position to block the other
team and be prepared for pres-
sures and all that kind of stuff,”
Taylor said. “We spend a lot of
time and effort talking through
that. Some games, it’s great.
Some games, we’re going to
need to improve.”
Two teams, one season
Lost amid the playoff chaos
last weekend was the fact that
few people outside Kansas
City thought the Chiefs would
even be in this position. They
dropped three of their first
seven games, including an em-
barrassing 27-3 loss in Tennes-
see, and an overhauled defense
was allowing yards and points
in staggering numbers.
The Chiefs turned things
around quickly, though, and
have lost just once since that
October day — to Cincinnati.
“I think I just saw the per-
sistence and the championship
swagger, I guess you would
say, of the team we have,” Ma-
homes said. “Guys didn’t hang
their head. They just wanted to
get better. I think that process
of every day getting better and
better has put us in this situ-
ation now, and we don’t want
to come up short. We want to
keep this process going, and
get better, and try to leave our
best football out there on the
football field.”
Sea of red?
The Niners will become
the first team to play 12 road
games in a single season on
Sunday.
After winning eight of the
first 11, they can become the
first team to win road games in
four straight weeks since Kan-
sas City did it in the 1966 sea-
son in the AFL.
The winning stretch started
with a Week 18 victory in In-
glewood where they had so
many of their own fans at the
game that the Rams needed to
use a silent count on offense at
times. The Niners are hoping
for a repeat on Sunday, though
the Rams will hope their fans
show.
“Hopefully we’ll have a sea
of red down at SoFi and turn it
into Levi’s South,” kicker Rob-
bie Gould said.
Brady threw more touch-
down passes in his 40s (168)
than in his 20s (147).
In the 20 seasons he fin-
ished as starter, Brady
reached the playoffs 19 times,
won 18 division titles, went
10-4 in conference cham-
pionships and 7-3 in Super
Bowls.
He played in the confer-
ence championship eight
times in his last 10 years.
Since starting his first game
on Sept. 30, 2001, Brady was
under center for every game
except when he suffered a
season-ending knee injury in
Week 1 in 2008 and the first
four games in 2016 when he
sat out a suspension because
of the deflated footballs scan-
dal.
After leaving New England,
the stoic Belichick and Pa-
triot Way, Brady’s personality
shined in the Florida sun.
He was personable, engag-
ing and entertaining, and he
displayed his wit on social
media while promoting his
brands.
During the Buccaneers’
victory celebration, Brady,
perhaps a bit inebriated,
chucked the Lombardi Tro-
phy from one boat to tight
end Cameron Brate on an-
other.
Known for his work ethic,
intense exercise and nutri-
tion regimen, Brady found
a funny and unique way to
congratulate Steelers quar-
terback Ben Roethlisberger
on his retirement earlier this
week.
Brady wrote: “Ben defied
the TB12 Method in favor of
the “Throw Some Ice On It”
method his whole career, and
ended up an all-time-great
with 6 Pro-Bowls and 2 Super
Bowls. There’s more than one
way to bake a cake!”