Bengals’ Joseph Ossai faces the music for his costly error that gave Chiefs AFC win

Cincinnati Bengals’ Joseph Ossai has accepted responsibility for his game-changing error late on in their 23-20 defeat by the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Chiefs were driving for a potential winning field goal in the AFC Championship game when Ossai, a second-year pro, gave chase to scrambling Patrick Mahomes.

Both were running at full speed when the All-Pro quarterback made it to the Cincinnati sideline, where Ossai gave a push from behind the sent Mahomes sprawling to the ground.

Cincinnati Bengals’ Joseph Ossai has accepted responsibility for his costly error in Chiefs loss

The 15-yard penalty for a late hit was enough to give Harrison Butker a field-goal chance, and the Chiefs’ big-legged kicker barely coaxed the ball over the crossbar, taking Kansas City to the Super Bowl.

‘I was just in full chase mode and pushing to maybe get him going backwards, because I knew he was going for the sideline, so make him go backwards and get that clock running,’ Ossai, who broke down in tears after the game, said. 

‘I didn’t know how far out of bounds we were.’

‘I’ve just got to learn from experience,’ Ossai said after breaking down in tears following defeat

Making things worse, Ossai lay in a heap on the sideline as Mahomes trotted back to the field. He wound up hurting his right knee on the play, and an MRI exam is due Monday to determine the nature and extent of the injury.

‘I’ve just got to learn from experience and know not to get close to that quarterback when he’s close to the sideline,’ said Ossai, who had played well up to the last minute of the game, and bravely answered questions from reporters afterward.

‘If there’s anything that could possibly cause a penalty in the dire situation like that,’ he said, ‘I’ve got to do better.’

Not everyone on the Cincinnati sideline was supportive after Ossai’s mistake. TV cameras caught linebacker Germaine Pratt asking with an expletive why he was even near Mahomes at that point in the game.

The 15-yard penalty for a late hit was enough to give Harrison Butker a field-goal chance

But most of the Bengals were ready to stand by Ossai’s side, even batting away questions that they didn’t like in the postgame locker room.

‘There were a lot of other plays that could have turned the tide in that game in one second, so that’s not the only one,’ Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said.

‘This is emotional. We worked really hard to get here,’ added Bengals coach Zac Taylor. 

‘Any play that people feel like was left out there, you’re going to take it hard. We want guys like that, that this means a lot to. They care about it, care about their teammates. Joseph comes to work every day; he loves being a part of this team.’