The second-to-last play of the Cincinnati Bengals' 2022 season does not define Joseph Ossai. If anything, it's the genesis of his final form.

Knowing a trip to the Super Bowl was on the line, Ossai identified a scrambling Patrick Mahomes charging for a first down. The angle to stop Mahomes in front of the chains was not there, but Ossai doesn't have a stop button in his game. He goes until the play is dead, always. Everyone knows what happened next.

Ossai's hustle-to-the-end mentality unfortunately aided the Kansas City Chiefs to a 23-20 victory over the Bengals, ending a 10-game winning streak that Ossai was most definitely a factor in creating. He's far from finished helping the Bengals win.

The truth of that fateful AFC title game is Ossai had much more to do with keeping the Bengals close rather than doom them to defeat. In just 20 pass rushing snaps, he recorded two quarterback hits and two hurries, grading out at 77.0 when rushing the quarterback, per Pro Football Focus. 

No other Bengal had a higher grade in the category of disrupting the league MVP.

It wasn't even a performance that came out of nowhere, though Ossai's NFL career leading up to that day makes it easy to perceive it that way. 

Much hype surrounded the 21-year old coming out of Texas, an explosive all-around edge defender with ample production. Ossai was the classic NFL Draft case of filling out the stat sheet, checking boxes at the Scouting Combine, but lacking refinement to move him up draft boards. 

As a projected second-round selection, the Bengals found him available at the top of the third round, the 11th edge defender off the board. The third round has traditionally been when Cincinnati has targeted defensive ends, often with inconsistent results. For every Sam Hubbard and Michael Johnson, there's been a Will Clarke and Jordan Willis. 

Ossai's profile made him a candidate to land on either side of the spectrum, but expectations were above ground level for him as a rookie. The combination of newly-signed Trey Hendrickson and the rookie coming off the right edge was going to improve the Bengals' pass rush tenfold in 2021.

Hendrickson at least made that happen in reality. Ossai had to watch it all from the sidelines.

In his first ever game of any kind, Ossai put together nearly three quarters of quality pass rushing on display against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. How many players can say the first quarterback they ever sacked was Tom Brady? Preseason environment or not, it was a strong first showing for Ossai, and then a torn meniscus put the ultimate damper on it. 

Fast forward a year, and Ossai is essentially a rookie again. The season-ending injury robbed him of development and experience, two things he needed more than most of his teammates. The beginning of his first real season saw him gradually work his way into the rotation at defensive end, filling in for Hendrickson in at right edge, and even sliding inside in subpackages. 

Ossai must have a thing for the NFC South, because his first sack came against the Atlanta Falcons, and his first game with a win rate greater than 20% came a week earlier against the New Orleans Saints. His first time back in Tampa since tearing his meniscus had him recovering a strip-sack fumble from Brady to help the Bengals pull off an incredible second-half comeback.

He was coming into his own just at the right time.

From Week 13 until Championship weekend, Ossai recorded at least one pressure a game, and was second to only Hendrickson in pass rush grade (71.7) and win rate (13%). His pass rush grade was even higher when looking at reps against true pass sets (75.7).

All of this culminated into the moment most fans know him for, pushing Mahomes out of bounds too late and penalizing his team out of a return trip to the Super Bowl. The moment sparked what appeared to be locker room controversy with Germaine Pratt, an impending free agent who appeared to be out the door after the season. Not only did Pratt quickly ensure there was no bad blood between him and Ossai, he opted to stick around in Cincinnati for three more years right as free agency began a month later.

Breakout players may feel like they surprise us, but most of them were already on the precipice of ascending. Ossai proved that long before his playoff error. In fact, arguably the best play of his season came against Mahomes a month earlier.

In Week 13, Cincinnati had a three-point lead on Kansas City late in the fourth quarter, and the Chiefs were already in field goal range. On a third-and-three play, Ossai was entrusted with containing Mahomes from the right side of the defensive line, and was given a two-way go at him. He chose the inside lane, forcing Mahomes to scramble out, then back in the pocket. 

99% of the time, Mahomes will find a target and fire the ball exactly to him. He was about to do the same before Ossai, unrelenting in his rush, tripped him up from behind and sacked him four yards deep. 

Mahomes got up, visibly frustrated, almost knowing that four yards was going to cost them. Sure enough, the Chiefs' 55-yard field goal was wide right. 

Ossai's very trait that ended the Bengals' season gave them the ultimate spark during it. His nonstop motor is a power that's only amplified with his natural gifts. We saw just a tease of it being harnessed into tangible production last year. Now it's being fueled by the last play we saw him make.

Pray for your favorite left tackle. 

National media tips its hat to Bengals’ Lou Anarumo

As they should.

Featured image via © Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK