How safety Chamarri Conner ‘was spark we needed’ in Chiefs’ victory over Bengals

Some 73,000 fans were screaming, but it was a specific noise that Charmarri Conner didn’t hear that set in motion one of the defining moments of the Chiefs’ 26-25 survival against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

“I didn’t hear a whistle,” Conner said.

Because the officials didn’t blow the play dead, Conner continued playing while others seemed to hesitate. He was in the right place at the right time to scoop up a Joe Burrow fumble — caused by the shared sack of Mike Danna and Tershawn Wharton — and return it 38 yards for a touchdown.

In a game of momentum swings at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Staidum, Conner twice found himself in the middle of pivotal fourth-quarter plays. In both cases, the Bengals held the lead and were seeking to gain a two-score advantage.

The touchdown came first. The Bengals faced a third-and-10 from their 34 and Burrow was immediately pressured. His escape was choked off by Danna and Wharton, and the Chiefs had the sack.

The football came out during that sequence, but no one seemed sure it was live ball. Suddenly, it was in Conner’s grasp and he was running unimpeded to the end zone for his first touchdown since high school.

The Chiefs’ lead stood at one point, 23-22, after a missed two-point conversion, and back came the Bengals with a field goal to regain the advantage.

Once again, Conner firmly put his stamp on the game. His 9-yard sack of Burrow — on a blitz called by Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo — forced the Bengals to punt away their final possession.

The sack was the first of Conner’s NFL career.

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“Spags dialed it up and it was wide open,” Conner said. “I knew I couldn’t miss the layup and I hit it as fast as I could.”

The key to that play occurred in the split-second of time from when Conner got the signal to the moment the ball was snapped.

“I just had to stay calm,” he said. “Don’t get too anxious or too excited. Just do my job.”

The Chiefs got the ball back and won on the final play of the game, when Harrison Butker boomed a 51-yard field goal through the uprights.

Those inside the Chiefs’ postgame locker room were thrilled for Conner, the second-year safety from Virginia Tech who played the majority of his snaps on special teams last season. He has been ticketed for a larger role this season, including getting snaps at slot cornerback.

He came on strong in the second half of last season, and in the playoffs, but Sunday was Conner’s most productive outing yet as an NFL player.

“Special player, special day,” Chiefs safety Justin Reid said. “Don’t forget about the play he made on special teams, on the kickoff.”

Right. For the first time this season, Butker put a kickoff into the landing zone, and it was returned. Conner dropped Cincinnati’s Trayveon Williams at the 24-yard line with a solo tackle.

“He was all over the field today,” Reid said. “He was the spark we needed.”