Print edition: 
CINCINNATI — The locals were restless, having seen the Chiefs get chewed up last week by the lowly Cleveland Browns. Cincinnati Bengals fans expected the home team to make quick work of an overmatched opponent and booed heartily at various points when it didn't happen.
All they needed, it turned out, was a little patience. When things looked best for the Chiefs and darkest for the Bengals — the Chiefs pinned Cincinnati at the 2 midway through the fourth quarter of a tie game — things reverted to a familiar form.
The Chiefs are capable of playing competent defense for only so long. They hit their limit at that point, allowing a 98-yard scoring drive and eventually absorbing another loss, this one by a 17-10 score.
"It's really tough to swallow because we were so close to pulling that game out,'' safety Jon McGraw said. "We had played so well and we had them on the 2-yard line. We were feeling at that point we were in really good position to win the game. All we had to do was play the way we had played all day.
"We just couldn't finish. That's the part that hurts so much.''
Given the way they collapsed against the Browns last week, the Chiefs had reason to be ecstatic about their defense until the final drive. They stifled an opponent with multiple playmakers, something they hadn't been able to do much this season.
The game shaped up as a classic mismatch. The Bengals, playing at home and needing a win to clinch the AFC North championship, had more going for them than the Chiefs, who at 3-11 were on the road with little incentive.
"The reason they're winning games is that they're more balanced,'' linebacker Mike Vrabel said. "I've played the Cincinnati Bengals before where Carson Palmer would throw it 50 times and if he completed 38 or 40 of them, they'd win. If he didn't, they wouldn't.
"They're a lot more balanced now. They're able to dictate the flow of the game. We hung in there for awhile.''
But not the full 60 minutes. Cincinnati converted four times on third down on the winning drive, including Carson Palmer's 6-yard scoring pass to Chad Ochocinco with just more than two minutes remaining.
The initial third-down conversion was a shovel pass from Palmer to seldom-used running back Brian Leonard. It gained eight yards when the Bengals needed seven.
"We had been great on third down all day until then,'' safety Mike Brown said. "They had some good stuff going. That shovel pass is what I'm talking about. We were expecting deeper routes. We had guys in coverage. There was a little open space there.
"We were playing solid defense. They were playing for the division championship, and we really didn't have anything to play for except pride, that name on the back of the jersey.''
Using only two plays of more than 12 yards, the Bengals pushed to the Kansas City 9. On third and goal from the 6, the Chiefs went after Palmer with a blitz but left him enough time to find Ochocinco open in the end zone.
He beat Brandon Flowers, who spent most of his day covering Ochocinco and allowed him just four catches for 31 yards.
"We challenged Brandon Flowers,'' coach Todd Haley said. "He's been battling through injury, and I thought that kid showed some heart playing against one of the better players in the league all day.
"This team is filled with weapons. They clearly can run the football. They were able to get a little momentum (on the touchdown drive) and got their pass game going.''
Referring to Ochocinco by his former name, Flowers said, "It was just one-on-one, and Chad Johnson won that matchup. He's a great receiver, and I enjoy playing against receivers like that. He's one of the better receivers in the game if not the best.''
The Chiefs played well enough to give them at least a little hope going into next week's season finale at Denver. The Broncos gained more than 400 yards, including 245 rushing, in a 44-13 win three weeks ago at Arrowhead Stadium.
"We were really critical of ourselves last week and it just comes down to playing better and everybody understanding what they're supposed to do,'' Vrabel said. "Everybody did his job and didn't try to do somebody else's job.''
KCCin
First downs1717
Total Net Yards295274
Rushes-yards28-12336-144
Passing172130
Punt Returns1-42-22
Kickoff Returns2-353-67
Interceptions Ret. 1-272-9
Comp-Att-Int22-37-217-25-1
Sacked-Yards Lost1-81-9
Punts6-47.07-41.3
Fumbles-Lost1-00-0
Penalties-Yards6-406-36
Time of Possession26:0833:52
Kansas City0307—10 Cincinnati0377—17
Second Quarter
Cin—FG Graham 29, 1:38.
KC—FG Succop 30, :05.
Third Quarter
Cin—Coles 10 pass from C.Palmer (Graham kick), 9:10.
Fourth Quarter
KC—Castille 20 pass from Cassel (Succop kick), 14:52.
Cin—Ochocinco 6 pass from C.Palmer (Graham kick), 2:03.
A—64,333.
Individual Statistics
Rushing—Kansas City, Charles 24-102, Cassel 3-21, Colquitt 1-0. Cincinnati, Benson 29-133, L.Johnson 4-11, C.Palmer 2-2, Ochocinco 1-(minus 2).
Passing—Kansas City, Cassel 22-37-2-180. Cincinnati, C.Palmer 17-25-1-139.
Receiving—Kansas City, Bowe 9-61, Chambers 3-34, Charles 3-22, Wade 2-18, Cox 2-14, Castille 1-20, Pope 1-7, O'Connell 1-4. Cincinnati, Ochocinco 4-31, Coles 3-43, Caldwell 3-22, Leonard 2-12, Benson 2-7, J.Johnson 1-9, Cosby 1-8, Coats 1-7.
Missed Field Goals—None.
