CINCINNATI — Four minutes were left when Peyton Manning took the field to try to lead his 51st game-winning drive. Plenty of time for the Broncos to pull it out.

One bad throw brought the playoffs into sharper focus.

Dre Kirkpatrick returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown with 2:41 to go, then picked off Manning again in the close seconds to secure a 37-28 victory on Monday night that put the Cincinnati Bengals back in the playoffs.

Cincinnati (10-4-1) will play in Pittsburgh next Sunday night, with the winner getting the AFC North title. The loser gets a wild card. The Bengals will have one thing in their favor: Finally breaking out of their prime time funk.

The Bengals got blown out in their two previous night games this season and were 18-41 all-time in prime time, including 10-20 on Monday nights. This one was particularly soothing.

“Until we had a win like this, people kept saying we couldn’t win in prime time,” said Andy Dalton, who is only 3-6 in prime time and 0-3 in the playoffs. “So it was big for us to get this win. Regardless of what people were saying, this win meant more because it got us into the playoffs.”

The Broncos (11-4) were already there as AFC West champions. They could have clinched a first-round bye with a win on Monday. Instead, New England got home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Denver can still clinch the No. 2 seed by beating Oakland at home.

“It’s disappointing,” said Manning, who threw a season-high four interceptions. “We had an opportunity to win this game tonight. We would have preferred that.”

Cincinnati’s four straight playoff appearances are a franchise first. Cincinnati hasn’t won a playoff game since the 1990 season, tied for the sixth-longest streak of futility in NFL history. They’re 0-5 in the postseason since then, with all of the losses coming under coach Marvin Lewis.