Can the Kansas City Chiefs prevent Cincinnati Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase from having another big game?

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs seemingly had Ja'Marr Chase and the Cincinnati Bengals where they wanted them in the fourth quarter of a Week 17 game between the teams this season.

With the score tied at 31, the Bengals faced a third-and-27 from their 41-yard line with less than four minutes remaining. The best-case scenario at that point seemed to be a long field goal and a three-point lead for the Bengals. But that would give Patrick Mahomes plenty of time to drive for the tying or winning score.

Except Chase came through — as he had all game — with a big play to ruin the Chiefs' day. The Chiefs blitzed seven players, leaving Charvarius Ward alone to cover Chase, and Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had time to make a well-placed throw.

Ward was in decent position and his fingers grazed the ball, but he couldn't prevent Chase from making a better play and grabbing the pass for a 30-yard gain. First down, Bengals run down the clock and bang in a winning field goal.

266 yards on the DEY for Ja'Marr. That's a team record for receiving yards in a game. Watch on CBS pic.twitter.com/s7clFfPQEY

Mahomes never got a chance with the ball again. Chase finished with 11 catches for 266 yards, the latter being the 16th most ever by a receiver in an NFL game. He had catches of 72, 69, 35 and 30 yards, the first two for touchdowns.

The Chiefs and Bengals meet again on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium (3 p.m. ET, CBS), with Cincinnati looking to get another big game from Chase — or one of its other talented receivers — and Kansas City trying to prevent it.

«We'll have to play that cat-and-mouse game,» Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. «As dynamic as Ja'Marr Chase is, there are certainly