The last time the Bengals played the Chiefs, they had their backs against it.
The Super Bowl lurked three downs, five yards, 90 seconds and a lifetime away and the frenzied Arrowhead Stadium sellout sizzled like jackals while the Stripes tried to wrench the AFC championship from the wand of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
And Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard, the best NFL defender you never heard of if you live outside Butler County, was about to have a moment in the finest tradition of Moeller High School and Ohio State and all the titles he’s helped win with his 9-to-5 down-home reliability.
Trey Hendrickson, his Pro Bowl Bash Brother on the other edge, calls Hubbard’s third-down sack-and-strip of Mahomes that forced the field goal that forced the overtime that forced the Bengals into their third Super Bowl “something that is a Cincinnati legend for all-time.”
And that was just one of the last three plays of regulation that shows you what Hubbard’s versatility means to defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s sixth-ranked red-zone defense, which no doubt Mahomes tests again in Sunday’s re-match (4:25 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Local 12) at Paycor Stadium.
“My mom always says that. Whatever that (clutch) situation, that’s when I play my best, which I agree with,” Hubbard says of the University Hospital nursing supervisor who gave him a steady hand. “I just like that moment …I’ve watched it. It’s probably the best game I’ve ever played.”
Jim Lippincott, the Moeller defensive coordinator who stuck him in the middle of a Cover Three as a safety and told him to go chase down a state title, has to agree. Lippincott, the former Bengals director of football operations, pushed the buttons to let him do it back-to-back in 2012 and 2013 as the Crusaders won it all.
“I didn’t see all of his games at Ohio State,” says Lippincott, who still always watches the Bengals. “But he’s playing better than he ever did at Moeller and Columbus. So smart. Bright smile. Energetic guy….
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at News…