Following a nail-biting 27-24 upset of the prior year’s AFC Championship, Joe Burrow, better known as Joe Shiesty or Joe Brrr, and his Cincinnati Bengals are moving onto the Superbowl, an idea that would’ve been laughed at when the season started. At the beginning of the season, Burrow was just in his second year of the league and even that is overselling it, as he missed significant time last season with an ACL tear. However upon his return, Burrow would be joined by fellow LSU star, Ja’Marr Chase, a wide receiver selected with fifth overall pick in the NFL draft, and the pair was expected to lift the team at least a little above last year’s 4-11-1 record. It’s safe to say Bengals fans have gotten that and then some. 

The Bengals strong start and even better finish to the season helped them secure a playoff spot despite a midseason slump that included an embarrassing loss to the Jets who were playing their backup quarterback. This major overachievement was in no small part to the excellent duo of “Joe Shiesty” and Ja’Marr Chase. However, this young duo would surely falter in the playoffs due to their inexperience many thought. They were quickly written off in favor of teams like the Chiefs, Bills, Packers, and Buccaneers. These doubters would quickly find out about the man, the myth, the legend – Joe Brrr. 

In the first round, the Bengals were set to play the Las Vegas Raiders, who found themselves down 26-19  to the Bengals with barely any time left on the clock. The Raiders put their trust into veteran quarterback Derek Carr, who threw, aiming for a touchdown, however the pass was intercepted, sealing the game for the Bengals, who advanced to the Divisional Round. In spite of this great win, many thought the Bengals had no shot against their next opponent – the #1 seeded Tennessee Titans. However, with time dwindling down, the game was tied 16-16. The Titans quarterback looked to push the ball down the field, but for the second time in a row, the Bengals came up with a crucial interception. The Bengals had a chance to win on the back of their kicker, Evan McPherson, who lined up for the potential game winning 52 yard field goal attempt. With the utmost confidence he told his teammates “Eh, looks like we’re going to the AFC Championship” before calmly kicking the ball through the uprights, fulfilling his prophecy and earning himself a nickname of his own – Money McPherson. 

But this was definitely going to be it. There was no way the Bengals could beat the back to back AFC Champions, Kansas City Chiefs. Especially not after the Chiefs had just escaped the clutches of defeat last week by scoring a field goal in just 13 seconds to send the game to overtime where they would eventually win. For the first half, that’s exactly how the game went. The Chiefs dominated 21-3 early on, scoring on each of their first 3 drives, and the Bengals odds of making the Superbowl dipped to just 5.2%. However, the Bengals, led by “Joe Brrr”, clawed their way back into the game, tying it up 24-24, and sending the game into overtime. The Chiefs won the overtime coin toss, meaning the Bengals rather mediocre defense had to stop a historically good offense from scoring without a chance to match them. But when the light shines the brightest, and the game is on the line, the Bengals defense has come up clutch time and time again this postseason. And surely enough, as improbable as it was, the Bengals managed to intercept yet another pass on a potentially game winning drive, this time from the best quarterback in the league, Patrick Mahomes. After driving the ball into field goal range, “Money Mcpherson” had a chance to send the Bengals to the Superbowl. With no words this time, he lined up, winded up, and kicked – the rest is history.