NFL playoff bracket: Who do the Bengals play next?

The Cincinnati Bengals are going to the AFC Championship Game after beating the Tennessee Titans.

For the first time since Boomer Esiason won NFL MVP, the Cincinnati Bengals are going to the AFC Championship Game.

After winning their first playoff game since the 1990 campaign last week over the Las Vegas Raiders, the Bengals kept the good vibes going by beating the top-seeded Tennessee Titans on the road in Nashville on the final play of the game. Kicker Evan McPherson put the ball through the uprights to give the Bengals their first road playoff victory in franchise history. So who is up next?

The No. 4-seeded Bengals will travel to the winner of the No. 3 Buffalo Bills vs. No. 2 Kansas City Chiefs game on Sunday night to play in the 2021 AFC Championship Game next weekend.

AFC playoff picture: Who are the Cincinnati Bengals playing in the championship?

Since Cincinnati is the lower seed when compared to Buffalo or Kansas City, the Bengals will have to travel on the road once again next week. The AFC Championship Game will be played in either Orchard Park or in Kansas City. Now that the Bengals have won their first road playoff game in franchise history, they are truly playing with house money heading into the conference title bout.

Though they will be sizable underdogs vs. either the Bills or Chiefs, keep in mind this very important fact. The only two other times the Bengals have played in the AFC Championship Game, they have won it and gone on to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, their league MVP quarterbacks were not good enough to beat the San Francisco 49ers for the ultimate prize on either occasion.

If Joe Burrow wants to eclipse Esiason or Ken Anderson in Bengals lore, he has to win the big one.