The Chiefs blew a huge lead and a shot at the Super Bowl after brutal sequence to end first half

• The Bengals erased an 18-point deficit to take down the Chiefs and punch a ticket to the Super Bowl.
• The Chiefs had the chance to put the game away with a score heading into halftime.

The Cincinnati Bengals are going to the Super Bowl.

After trailing the Chiefs 21-3 early, the Bengals stormed back in the second half to complete the biggest comeback in AFC Championship history, taking down Kansas City in overtime by a final score of 27-24.

The Bengals comeback likely would have been over before it started if not for the Chiefs completely botching a bit of clock management at the end of the first half.

The Chiefs got the ball back with 1:05 left in the first half, already holding a 21-10 lead. With Kansas City set to receive the second-half kickoff, a score heading into halftime would give them an even more commanding lead and the chance to double-up on their first possession of the second half.

True to his nature, Patrick Mahomes quickly navigated the Chiefs into the red zone. After a defensive penalty on the Bengals in the end zone, Kansas City had first-and-goal on the 1-yard line with 9 seconds remaining and no timeouts.

If the Chiefs played fast, there was time for two throws to the end zone before settling for a field goal.

On first down, Mahomes seemed conscious of the Chiefs' clock situation. After taking the snap, Mahomes rolled to his left, but he opted to throw the ball into the ground with five seconds left and all potential targets covered.

But on second down, all of the presence of the moment Mahomes had on first down seemed to disappear. Rather than looking to the end zone, Mahomes turned left and delivered the ball to Tyreek Hill back at the 5-yard line.

Hill was tackled before he could cross the goal line, and the clock hit zero.

After the game, head coach Andy Reid took responsibility for coming away empty-handed.

"I was hoping we could get the ball in the end zone," Reid told reporters after the game. "I probably gave him the wrong play. I could've given him something better than that where the play was open in the end zone, and then we wouldn't have had to go through that."

Mahomes also took ownership of the botched play.

"It took four seconds the play before where I burned it, so I knew the time was low obviously," Mahomes said. "I knew we needed to get points. We called a play that we were supposed to find someone over the middle quick. And I was supposed to throw the ball away quick.

"I got a little greedy there."

With first-and-goal at the one, the Chiefs had three points guaranteed heading into the half and a pretty good shot at seven if they played their cards right.

Instead, the Chiefs came up empty.

Unfortunately for them, the Bengals' defense came alive in the second half, holding the Chiefs to just three points and allowing Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati offense to bring their team back from the brink.

In overtime, the Bengals picked off Mahomes on the opening possession of the extra period and drove the field to set rookie kicker Evan McPherson up for the game-winning field goal.

After hitting from 52 yards last weekend to send the Bengals through to the AFC title game, 31 yards with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line was a cakewalk.

Had the Chiefs gotten any points out of their drive at the end of the first half, they might have been heading to their third straight Super Bowl.

Instead, they're left to wonder how it all went wrong.