For the second week in a row, four Bengals game balls were passed out to Cincinnati-area restaurants.
After the Bengals' first post-season win this year — defeating the Las Vegas Raiders on Jan. 15 — the team announced it would start a new tradition of giving a game ball to “the city of Cincinnati.”
This week was no different. After Saturday’s thrilling AFC Divisional Round game ended with a win against the Tennessee Titans 19-16 — sending the franchise to its first AFC Championship game since 1988— the Bengals distributed game balls around the city.
After returning from the historic win in Nashville, Bengals Head Coach Zac Taylor and Offensive Coordinator Brian Callahan spent time with some very happy Cincinnatians.
Jeff Ruby’s Precinct got the first ball, with the restaurant writing on Facebook, “What a game and what an honor.” The ball was pictured among a bunch of orange and black “Who Dey” slices of cake.
Ball two hit the suburbs and was handed over to 16 Lots Brewing Company in Mason. (After many confused Facebook comments, 16 Lots got a new ball with the correct date of Jan. 22, 2022, not Jan. 22, 2015.)
Mount Lookout’s Delwood got the third ball. In its Facebook post, the restaurant thanked “coach of the year” Taylor for delivering the ball, saying it will be at Delwood all week, if fans want to stop by and bask in its glory.
Holy Grail Tavern and Grille at The Banks got the fourth and final game ball from Saturday’s game. The Tavern shared a video of the crowded bar cheering for the ball and captioned it with a simple “WWWHHHOOO DDDEEEYYY!!”
The Bengals now advance to the AFC Championship round and will play the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, Jan. 30.
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