Joseph Ossai committed one of the costliest penalties in recent memory.
In the closing seconds of the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium, the Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman was in full pursuit of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes was scrambling for a first down in the final moments of the game and try to get out of bounds. As soon as Mahomes’ foot touched the sideline, Ossai made contact and a flag for a late hit was thrown.
The 15-yard penalty set the Chiefs up for the game-winning field goal with three seconds left in the game. The ball was booted through the uprights, and the Chiefs clinched a berth in Super Bowl 57 where they will face the Philadelphia Eagles.
Joseph Ossai’s late hit called by Bengals radio 😬 pic.twitter.com/xYSbsPBwEi
— HALL of GOATS (@GOATS_hall) January 30, 2023
After the game, the 22-year-old Ossai met with the media in the locker room and discussed the brutal penalty, while also taking accountability.
The scene at #Bengals pass rusher Joseph Ossai’s locker after his game-ending penalty with his teammate BJ Hill stepping in to provide support.
That’s what a real teammate looks like❤️
pic.twitter.com/L3RGzkXr0Z— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) January 30, 2023
“I gotta learn from experience,” Ossai said. “I gotta know not to get close to that quarterback when he’s close to that sideline if it’s anything that could possibly cause a penalty in a dire situation like that. I gotta do better.
“I was just in full chase mode. I was trying to push him, maybe get him going backwards because I knew he was going for that sideline. I was trying to make him go backwards, get that clock running. I haven’t seen it yet. I don’t know how far out of bounds we were.”
Ossai also said that Bengals head coach Zac Taylor comforted him and gave him words of encouragement after the penalty.
“He just told me to keep my head up,” Ossai said, via ESPN.com. “Told me there were a bunch of different plays we had to make, that it didn’t come down to that one, and we just gotta keep moving forward.”
And teammate BJ Hill, who was with Ossai at his locker room after the game, said there were no hard feelings.
“I don’t have [any] hard feelings about that play at all because I knew what his intention was: just to play hard,” Hill said.
It was a heartbreaking loss for Cincinnati, who would have reached their second straight Super Bowl with a win, but now they will have to put it all behind them and prepare for another run next season.
As for the Chiefs, they will face off against the Eagles at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on Sunday, February 12, 2023, on FOX.
