Super Bowl-bound Chiefs return to football’s biggest stage for first time in 50 years
The Tennessee Titans jumped out to a 10-0 first-quarter lead with a trip to Super Bowl LIV on the line.
And then Patrick Mahomes happened.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ signal-caller threw for 172 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score in the first half to help the Chiefs take a 21-17 lead at halftime.
Mahomes finished the game 23 of 35 for 294 yards and three touchdowns, adding 53 yards rushing and a touchdown on eight carries to pace the Chiefs to a 35-24 victory and ticket to Miami.
“Pat is the guy,” Chiefs linebacker Reggie Ragland said. “I’d go to war with a cat like Pat any day of the week. He’s a true leader, man. I love that guy.”
For the second straight week, the Chiefs had to overcome a double-digit deficit in the first quarter. The Titans scored on their first three possessions, but the Chiefs followed with three straight touchdowns of their own after going three-and-out on their first possession.
In their past two games, the Chiefs have scored 42 total points in the second quarter and allowed just seven.
“We just have such a culture here of winning,” center Austin Reiter said. “And I don’t think until the clock says zero that anybody on this team has any doubt, when it comes to any type of game, that we’re going to win. We showed that last week, then 10-0 this week.”
Mahomes also showed why he won the NFL’s 2018 MVP award, firing laser-like throws to wide receiver Tyreek Hill for two touchdowns in the first half. The Chiefs quarterback saved his best for late in the second quarter, with an electrifying 27-yard touchdown run to give the Chiefs a lead they never relinquished.
On that play, Mahomes was looking to pass as the pocket began collapsing around him. He then scrambled to his left before taking off down the left sideline. Five Titans tried but none could bring down Mahomes, who spun into the end zone after bouncing off two defenders inside the 5-yard line.
“Magic Mahomes,” said tight end Travis Kelce, who totaled three catches for 30 yards. “That’s the best way you can explain it. I mean, I was excited as anybody else to be able to cap off that two-minute drill with Pat getting in the end zone.”
Defensive end Frank Clark, who finished the game with four tackles and a sack, agreed.
“We trust in Pat,” Clark said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got the best quarterback in the league. I mean, I don’t know how much easier it can get for me.
“I”m watching Pat, I’m watching the offense take control of the game, and that was the most comfortable feeling I’ve had.”
The Chiefs kept the pressure on the Titans in the second half as Damien Williams scored on a 3-yard touchdown run. The Chiefs had committed to their running game with a 73-yard, time-consuming gem. Of their 13 plays on that drive, 10 came on the ground as the Chiefs took 7:08 off the clock to extend the lead to 11 points, at 28-17.
Mahomes then found wide receiver Sammy Watkins for a 60-yard score, giving him 11 career postseason passing touchdowns to establish a new team record for most career touchdown passes. The previous mark had been held by Alex Smith (nine).
Watkins finished with seven catches for 114 yards and a touchdown on nine targets, while Hill contributed five catches for 67 yards and two touchdowns.
While Mahomes proved the catalyst on offense, even leading the team in rushing for the second straight playoff game, the entire defense stepped up to ensure that powerful Titans running back Derrick Henry would not take over this one.
Henry entered Sunday with 377 total yards rushing in two playoff wins over the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens, averaging 188 yards rushing per game. He also gashed the Chiefs during the regular season with 188 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries in Week 10.
The Chiefs got their revenge Sunday, limiting Henry to 69 yards rushing and a touchdown on 19 carries.
“We played football,” Ragland said. “You had to go out there and do your job, and we played sound defense. We didn’t give up big plays, man. That’s what you’ve got to do.”
Safety Tyrann Mathieu, who led the defensive charge with nine tackles, agreed.
“It’s more so about doing your job,” Mathieu said. “Understanding that one of us is going to have to make the tackle and the rest of us just have to rally to the ball. I thought we did a good job of that, for the most part, in the run game.”
With Henry contained, Kansas City’s defense keyed on Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who hurt the Chiefs in the first half with play-action passes. Tannehill closed out the first half with 120 yards passing and a touchdown but finished the game completing just 21 of 31 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns.
“You’ve got to try to make team’s one-dimensional,” Ragland said. “If you get Derrick going on that team, they’re hard to stop because it’s play-action, play-action, screens, run, run, run, and stuff like that. We just did a good job of staying in our gaps and hitting him.”
Sunday’s win ended two droughts for the Chiefs.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid entered the weekend with a 1-8 record against the Titans, including four straight losses. Hoisting the Lamar Hunt Trophy marked the end of that futility.
With the win, Reid, who improved to 14-14 in the playoffs, moved ahead of Mike Holmgren for sixth all-time for career postseason wins by a head coach.
The Chiefs are returning to the Super Bowl for the first time in 50 years and will play the NFC’s representative Feb. 2 in south Florida.
“I love Coach Reid,” Kelce said. “He’s definitely part of the motivation. We’re sick of hearing what the media says about it, how he can’t get the big one done.
“You know what? We knocked one off the list with the Lamar Hunt Trophy back here in Kansas City for the Hunt family, and we’ve still got one more goal to knock off the list.”
This story was originally published January 19, 2020 at 5:44 PM.
