Chiefs-Titans halftime: Mahomes Magic pulls KC from deficit and into 21-17 lead
Once again, the Chiefs missed their wake-up call.
Once again, Patrick Mahomes came to the rescue and led the Chiefs to a 21-17 halftime lead in the AFC Championship Game.
Mahomes’ 27-yard run with 11 seconds remaining, when he tight-roped down the sideline and broke four tackles before carrying a defender into the end zone, capped another first-half playoff comeback, the Chiefs’ second in as many weeks.
This actually marks the third straight playoff game at Arrowhead in which the Chiefs dug themselves a hole. In last week’s AFC Divisional Round game, they fell behind the Houston Texans and needed the biggest rally in franchise history to get the victory.
In the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead last season, the Chiefs trailed the New England Patriots 14-0 at halftime.
The Chiefs are trying to get back to the Super Bowl — Super Bowl LIV in Miami Feb. 2 — for the first time since Super Bowl IV, in which they beat the Minnesota Vikings.
On Sunday, the Titans grabbed a 3-0 lead on the game’s first possession, something of a triumph for the Chiefs. Tennessee had scored touchdowns on 12 straight red-zone possessions dating to Week 15 of the regular season.
But after the Chiefs’ offensive possession ended with a three-and-out — Travis Kelce dropped what would have been a first-down reception — the Titans rolled to another score.
This time, their drive was aided by a pair of offsides penalties from an over-amped Chiefs defense, one giving the Titans a third down. From the shotgun, Tennessee bruiser Derrick Henry took it in from the 4.
The score was 10-7 when Chiefs cornerback Rashad Fenton was flagged for a pass-interference penalty on third and 22 on a throw from Ryan Tannehill to Corey Davis that wouldn’t have come close to collecting first-down yardage.
The play gave the Titans a first down at the Chiefs’ 14, and from the 1, the Titans fooled the Chiefs with a tackle-eligible touchdown pass to 6-foot-8 and 321-pound Dennis Kelly.
The Patrick Mahomes-to-Tyreek Hill combination was the best thing the Chiefs had going for them in the first half.
The duo combined for a pair of touchdowns, the first on a flip-pass that covered 8 yards. The second, which cut the Chiefs’ deficit to 17-14 with 4:03 remaining until halftime, was a 20-yard strike down the seam.
Those touchdown passes gave Mahomes the franchise postseason career record of 10 (breaking Alex Smith’s mark of nine), and were Hill’s first scoring receptions in a playoff game. He’d previously scored a rushing touchdown in the postseason.
According to NFL Research, Mahomes became the first quarterback since 1950 to throw 10 postseason touchdown passes without an interception to start a career.
The Chiefs almost had a big break when cornerback Bashaud Breeland stepped in front Corey Davis for what was ruled an interception. But replay showed the ball hit the turf.
The Chiefs get the ball to begin the second half.
This story was originally published January 19, 2020 at 3:34 PM.