CINCINNATI - Paul Brown Stadium nearly shook in triumph. The city of Cincinnati might have, too.
Its latest sports hero, quarterback Joe Burrow, merely seemed to shrug after leading the Bengals to their first playoff victory in 31 years, 26-19 over Las Vegas on Saturday in an AFC wild-card game that kicked off the NFL postseason.
"It's exciting for the city, for the state, but we are not going to dwell on that, we are moving forward," said Burrow, who threw two touchdown passes. "This is expected. This isn't like the icing on top of the cake, this is the cake. So we are moving on."
Burrow led an efficient offense that scored on six possessions, Evan McPherson became the first rookie to make four field goals without a miss in a postseason debut and Germaine Pratt sealed it with a fourth-down interception in the dying seconds.
It was a victory three decades in the making for the fourth-seeded Bengals. After going from worst to first in the AFC North Division with a generally young roster in Burrow's second season, they ended that embarrassingly long postseason drought that included eight consecutive defeats.
"Who dey" indeed.
Third-year coach Zac Taylor said game balls were going to team owner Mike Brown and to the city itself.
"Some of them might not understand the significance of what happened today," he said of his players. "The city can finally enjoy this team and take the pressure off of the last 31 years. Today was significant for a lot of people."
Their next opponent will depend on results in the other two AFC wild-card games this weekend.
"It's going to be fun tomorrow to watch the games knowing we have the win," said Burrow, the top overall selection in the 2020 draft who led the NFL in completion percentage this season. He was 24-for-34 for 244 yards on Saturday.
Helped by some problematic officiating by Jerome Boger's crew that might have allowed Burrow's touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd to count when it shouldn't have, the Bengals also extended a lengthy postseason drought for the fifth-seeded Raiders. Las Vegas, which won its final four games to squeeze into the postseason, hasn't won a playoff game since the AFC title game to cap the 2002 season.
Cincinnati made it 4-for-4 on scoring drives late in the first half, though with some controversy. Burrow rolled right to avoid pressure and threw from close to the sideline. Play continued despite an erroneous whistle by an official, who thought Burrow stepped out of bounds. Boyd caught the 10-yard pass in the back of the end zone for a 20-6 lead. The play counted, to protests from the Raiders, who cited the rule that the ball should be returned to the previous spot.
And Las Vegas lost by seven points.
"We just ran out of time today," said interim coach Rich Bisaccia. "We did some uncharacteristic things with some penalties and gave up some drives and didn't capitalize when we had it in the red zone at times. So it just didn't go our way today."
AP photo by Jeff Dean / Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase makes a catch against the Las Vegas Raiders' Desmond Trufant during the first half of an AFC wild-card playoff game Saturday in Cincinnati.Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson, the league's top scorer, made a 47-yard field goal on the game's opening possession, but the Bengals countered. And then kept scoring, although mostly with field goals.
Burrow took Cincinnati 75 yards in 10 plays, connecting with C.J. Uzomah in the front of the end zone from the 7 to make it 7-3. Burrow threw for 65 yards on the drive, and Uzomah celebrated his score with the Ickey Shuffle.
Then the Bengals' defense stepped up with their sacks leader, Trey Hendrickson, stripping Carr of the ball. Defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi rumbled 11 yards with it to the Raiders' 10-yard line, but Las Vegas held and McPherson made a 31-yard field goal.
The mistakes kept coming for the visitors. Peyton Barber touched a botched kickoff heading out of bounds at the 2, putting the Raiders in a hole. All-Pro punter A.J. Cole got off a 58-yarder, but Trent Taylor's 14-yard return set up Cincinnati in prime position again.
Cincinnati rookie Ja'Marr Chase - who formerly teamed up with Burrow to help LSU to an undefeated 2019 season and the national championship - had nine receptions for 116 yards and kept victimizing the Raiders, with his 38-yard reception getting the Bengals to the 6. McPherson made a 30-yarder for a 13-3 lead. It soon was 13-6 on Carlson's 28-yard field goal.
Then came Boyd's touchdown, followed by an impressive two-minute drill covering 80 yards for Las Vegas, capped by Carr's 14-yard pass to Zay Jones that made it 20-13. McPherson, a fifth-round draft pick last April, made two more second-half field goals, as did Carlson.
Carr finished 29-of-54 for 310 yards.
The crowd of 66,277 fans hungry for some playoff gold had to hold their breath before getting it with Pratt's pick at the end.
"I think Germaine has made a really big step this year, Taylor said. "I thought last year was a good step, I think this year he has made a tremendous jump. Super reliable for us."