Brandon Aiyuk scored the winning touchdown reception in overtime as the San Francisco 49ers rallied to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 26-23 in one of the most thrilling games of the season. Aiyuk collected a 12-yard pass from Jimmy Garoppolo and then leapfrogged into the end zone for the winning score, putting the 49ers one game up for the final playoff spot in the NFC.
Garoppolo and George Kittle came alive in the second half, as Kittle hauled in a 19-yard catch on third-and-10 from the Bengals 38 to put the 49ers in field goal range for the win. Robbie Gould missed the 48-yard kick that led to overtime, but Kittle made sure his kicker was off the hook.
Kittle hauled in a third-and-5 catch for nine yards deep in 49ers territory to extend the drive and avoid Gould having to attempt a game-tying field goal in overtime. Aiyuk scored the winning touchdown on the next play.
The Bengals took their first lead of the game on their first possession in overtime, a 41-yard field goal by Evan McPherson to make it 23-20. Burrow was sacked by Nick Bosa on third-and-3 from the 19-yard line to force Cincinnati to kick and give San Francisco an opportunity to win the game.
Cincinnati equaled San Francisco on a tremendous drive orchestrated by Burrow, who found Ja’Marr Chase for a 32-yard touchdown pass with 1:19 left to knot the game at 20-20. Burrow went 4 of 6 for 85 yards and the touchdown to Chase on the drive. He found Chase earlier in the fourth quarter on a 17-yard touchdown to cut San Francisco’s lead to 20-13.
Burrow finished 25 of 34 for 348 yards and two touchdowns (125.6 rating) and Chase hauled in five catches for 7 yards and two scores. Tee Higgins led the Bengals with 114 receiving yards.
The Bengals had an opportunity to take over first place in the AFC North, but now are on the outside looking in regarding the wild card race. Cincinnati trails the Indianapolis Colts in the playoff standings as the Colts hold the conference record tiebreaker.
We’ll have takeaways from this thriller shortly, but a recap of this contest is in our live blog below.
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