Tyler Boyd Believes Bengals Beat Chiefs If Healthy

PITTSBURGH -- The Cincinnati Bengals fell in devastating fashion to the Kansas City Cheifs in the AFC Championship Game last January, falling 23-20 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Former Pitt Panthers receiver Tyler Boyd, a key part of the Bengals' prolific passing offense, feels that his absence from most of the final three quarters was the difference between victory and defeat for his team.

"Still to this day, I feel like if I would have played the whole game, I was the key factor," the former Pitt receiver Boyd said. "We would've won the game."

Boyd went down with a deep thigh bruise in the second quarter after making a 24-yard reception and rolling his leg underneath the body of Chiefs safety Justin Reid.

After limping off the field, Boyd said he tried using different medicines to numb the pain and get back in the game, but he felt that he would not have been able to play at the pace Cincinnati needed to win. So Boyd deferred to the healthy complement of pass-catchers on his team. He exited the game with a pair of catches for 40 yards.

"I just felt like we had enough depth for guys like [Trenton Irwin] and other guys to come in and play at a faster pace than what I felt like I could do," Boyd said. "I wish I was able to do it, but things happen."

Head coach and play caller Zac Taylor agreed that the Bengals suffered after Boyd left the game because Kansas City was able to double-team star wideouts Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins.

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