Sunday gave us what will likely be one of the highlight games of the season. The Cincinnati Bengals walked into Arrowhead Stadium and gave the Kansas City Chiefs all they could handle, pushing them until the end, before a 4th and 16 defensive pass interference call set Patrick Mahomes‘ offense up to win the game.
Since that ending, it’s been nothing short of outrage from a lot of fans who believe the Chiefs continually get favored by NFL refs. To the Bengals’ credit, they haven’t complained much about the game-deciding call. If anything, it has motivated them for the rest of the regular season; at least for rookie safety Daijahn Anthony, the player who committed the penalty at the end of the game.
Daijahn Anthony using game-losing penalty as motivation
Anthony spoke a couple of days after the game and revealed he has Mahomes and Travis Kelce set as the lock screen on his phone.
I honestly can’t wait to see them. I got [Patrick Mahomes] as one of my lock screens right now, so I could see it every day. Both of them [Mahomes and Travis Kelce], because I can’t wait to see them again… It’s just a healthy [motivator]. Just remember your ‘why?’
Anthony has only played eight defensive snaps through the first two games of the season, so it was a surprise that he was even out there on 4th and 16 with the game on the line. Anthony was drafted in the 7th round by Cincinnati in April, after spending his college career at Shepherd, Liberty and Ole Miss.
The Bengals sit at 0-2 and need to get their season turned around quickly. That starts with a matchup against the Washington Commanders on Monday night.