NASHVILLE - Maybe, just maybe, these young Cincinnati Bengals really are that good.
Especially with the way they keep ending postseason droughts. Their latest victory puts the franchise in the AFC championship game for the first time in 33 years - and a win away from a third try at Cincinnati's first Super Bowl victory.
Rookie kicker Evan McPherson made a 52-yard field goal as time expired, lifting the fourth-seeded Bengals past the top-seeded Tennessee Titans 19-16 in a divisional round playoff game Saturday at Nissan Stadium. And with that, the NFL's longest active road skid in the postseason came to a sudden end.
"He's got ice in his veins," Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor said of McPherson, a native of Fort Payne, Alabama, who starred for the Florida Gators and was a fifth-round draft pick last spring. "There's not much more to be said. He's just as cool as it gets."
A week after snapping a 31-year drought without a playoff victory by getting past the Las Vegas Raiders in the wild-card round, the Bengals finally earned their first postseason road win; they had been 0-7 in the playoffs away from Cincinnati. They used home wins to reached the Super Bowls to cap the 1981 and 1988 seasons, losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the big game both times.
"We're here to make some noise, and teams are going to have to pay attention to us," said quarterback Joe Burrow, the No. 1 pick of the 2020 draft after leading LSU to a 15-0 record and the national championship in his final college season.
Cincinnati will play in the AFC championship game next weekend, visiting the winner of Sunday's other AFC divisional round game between the second-seeded Kanas City Chiefs and the third-seeded Buffalo Bills.
The Bengals intercepted veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill three times, setting up two of McPherson's four field goals. Logan Wilson picked off Tannehill with 20 seconds left, burrow hit Pro Bowl rookie receiver Ja'Marr Chase with a 19-yard pass, and then the Bengals ran twice to set up McPherson for the win.
"That's a kicker's dream," McPherson said, "to have the game on your shoulders."
Burrow shook off being sacked nine times as Tennessee tied an NFL mark held by four other teams for the most in a playoff game. He threw for 348 yards - 109 of those to Chase - to become the first quarterback taken No. 1 overall to win a divisional game within his first two seasons.
Joe Mixon ran for the Bengals' lone touchdown, a 16-yarder on their first possession of the third quarter.
"We found a way all year," Burrow said. "Man, crazy, crazy game. That's a really, really good team. Unbelievable defensive line. They had a great plan on defense. Credit to them, (but) we found a way at the end."
AP photo by Mark Humphrey / Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson, center, celebrates with quarterback Joe Burrow after kicking a 52-yard field goal to beat the Tennessee Titans in an AFC divisional round playoff game Saturday in Nashville.Tennessee's five sacks in the first half were the most in a playoff game since Jan. 8, 2000, when the Titans sacked Buffalo quarterback Rob Johnson five times in the game best known for the Music City Miracle kickoff return touchdown. Burrow was only the third quarterback to be sacked at least five times in the first half of a playoff game since 1991.
The Titans, who had a bye last weekend, wrapped up their 25th season in Tennessee with their third straight loss on their own field as the AFC's No. 1 seed. The franchise formerly known as the Houston Oilers hasn't won at home in the postseason since January 2003.
"I don't think Ryan or myself or anybody did enough to win the game," said Titans coach Mike Vrabel, who guided the team to a third straight postseason berth and second straight AFC South Division title in his fourth season. "That's how it goes. It's never going to be about one person, not as long as I'm head coach, which will be a while."
Tennessee had Derrick Henry, the NFL's back-to-back rushing champion for the 2019 and 2020 seasons, on the field after he missed the final nine games of the recently completed regular season with a broken foot. He ran for a touchdown and finished with 62 yards on 20 carries.
Tannehill was picked off on the game's first play from scrimmage. His second interception came on first-and-goal at the Bengals' 9-yard line in the third quarter. He finished with 220 passing yards, with 142 of that to A.J. Brown on five catches. Julio Jones had six catches for 62 yards.
Burrow was the NFL's most sacked quarterback during the season, just ahead of Tannehill. The Titans got him on his first snap and had three in the first quarter alone. Burrow became only the second quarterback to win an NFL playoff game despite being sacked nine times, joining Len Dawson, who beat Buffalo for the 1966 AFL championship.
The Titans had plenty of opportunities to win.
Henry was stopped on fourth-and-1 at the Cincinnati 37 instead of Tennessee attempting a long field goal for the lead with 7:16 left. The hosts also got the ball back with 2:43 to go and plenty of time to drive for the winning field goal themselves after scoring 10 points within 90 seconds late in the third quarter, tying it up at 16.
Tennessee showed little awareness of the clock, running only one play before it stopped for the two-minute warning. On the third play, Tannehill's pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine was picked off by Wilson, setting up the Bengals for the winning drive.
"All day we were just shooting ourselves in the foot," Brown said.
Tannehill summed up the pain of the loss: "This hurts. Hurts bad."
McPherson converted for his 11th field goal from 50 yards or longer, the most in a season for one player. He also became the first kicker in NFL history with at four or more field goals in multiple games in a single postseason.
"He stepped up big," Burrow said, "and got us to where we need to go."
The next round of the playoffs.