The Bengals did what they had to do today, even if it was far more dramatic than they hoped. Now they need another win and help to continue their season beyond next week.

Cincinnati held off Denver from securing the final spot in the AFC playoffs with a 30-24 overtime win on Saturday. The Bengals improved to 8-8 while the Broncos fell to 9-7.

Denver can still secure a win next week over the Chiefs, who secured the AFC West title and the No. 1 seed in the conference.

But the Bengals controlled what they can control, despite a 33-yard missed field goal by Cade York with 2:43 left in overtime. They got the ball back when the Broncos, who would have secured a spot in the playoffs if they had tied, punted after a three-pointer.

Tee Higgins caught a 31-yard pass from Joe Burrow to the 3-yard line with 1:10 left in overtime. Replay left the play standing, with Higgins’ left toe resting on the catch before his right foot landed in the field as his momentum drove him out of bounds. Higgins then caught Burrow’s 3-yard touchdown pass, ending the game.

Higgins caught 11 passes for 131 yards and three touchdowns.

The Bengals thought they had won at the end of regulation when Burrow scored on a 1-yard quarterback push play with 1:29 left. The Bengals were unlucky when Chase Brown was injured sliding down at the 1, so the Broncos got their last timeout back and then Burrow scored. Without Brown’s injury, the Bengals could have burned most of the time.

Bo Nix then led the Broncos on a seven-play, 70-yard drive, with Marvin Mims catching a 25-yard touchdown pass and putting the ball in the air between defensive backs Geno Stone and Mike Hilton with eight seconds left. It was close, the ball was moving as Mims hit the ground and then went out of bounds, but replay kept the game standing.

The Broncos were aiming for two points and a win before the replay, but opted to take the extra point for the tie and overtime.

The Bengals won the coin toss in overtime, but gained only 12 yards in five plays and punted for the first time all game. The Broncos, starting at their own 10 line, went three-pointer to the Bengals to give the ball back at their own 46 line. Cincinnati then drove to the Denver 15, where York knocked down the chip-shot field goal from the left upright.

The next time the Bengals got the ball back, they gave it to Burrow and Higgins rather than York.

The Bengals never punted in regulation and should have won earlier and by a bigger margin. They had three touchdown drives, a field goal drive that ended at the Cincinnati 3, two drives that ended on downs deep in Denver territory, and a drive that ended over midfield with a Higgins fumble Pat Surtain forced and made amends. The Bengals also took a knee to send the game into overtime.

The Bengals only led 7-3 at halftime.

They outscored the Broncos 499 to 329, with just one punt. Burrow was 39 of 49 for 412 yards and three touchdowns. Ja’Marr Chase caught nine passes for 102 yards. Brown had 20 carries for 67 yards before leaving due to injury, and his replacement, Khalil Herbert, had a crucial 13-yard run in overtime.

Nix was 24 of 31 for 219 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, while Mims caught eight for 103 and two touchdowns. Courtland Sutton added five catches for 55 yards and a touchdown.

The Broncos had seven sacks of Burrow, led by Zach Allen’s 3.5 and Jonathon Cooper’s 1.5.

Germaine Pratt had a key interception for the Bengals late in the fourth quarter.