Chiefs punch their ticket
Mahomes leads K.C. past Titans
With his best imitation of a tightrope walker, Patrick Mahomes high-wired the Kansas City Chiefs into their first Super Bowl in a halfcentury.
Oh sure, Mahomes did his usual superb job passing, but it was his 27-yard tap dance down the left sideline late in the first half that gave the Chiefs their first lead. From there, they outran the runoriented Titans and star back Derrick Henry for a 3524 victory Sunday in the AFC championship.
At last, for the first time since 1970 and the third time overall, the Chiefs (14-4) are Super Bowl bound.
In two weeks in Miami, they will play the winner of the NFC title game between Green Bay and San Francisco.
“I mean, it’s amazing. It really is,” Mahomes said. “To be here, to be a part of Chiefs Kingdom and to be able to do it here at Arrowhead, these people deserve it. And, we’re not done yet.”
Adding to the joy of the achievement, coach Andy Reid and owner Clark Hunt accepted the Lamar Hunt Trophy — named after his father — emblematic of the AFC title. It was handed over to them by Chiefs Hall of Famer Bobby Bell, with Mahomes and safety Tyrann Mathieu jumping for joy on the makeshift stage.
Next up: chasing the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
“Chiefs Kingdom, we are going to the Super Bowl,’’ Hunt said.
“It’s awesome,’’ Reid said, asking the crowd to chant ”How about those Chiefs?’’
The Chiefs lost in the very first Super Bowl, 35-10 to the Green Bay Packers. But they charged back three years later to beat Minnesota 23-7 behind Len Dawson, Otis Taylor and animated coach Hank Stram famously urging his team to “keep matriculating the ball down the field, boys!”
As they had done in their past three “elimination’’ games, the sixth-seeded Titans (11-8) got started quickly. The difference at Arrowhead as opposed to Houston, New England and Baltimore was that the Chiefs had Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins and Damien Williams on offense, and a vastly upgraded defense from when they lost in last year’s AFC title game. Henry was held to 7 yards rushing in the second half.
“They were doubling all these guys,’’ Mahomes said of his spectacular TD run on which he barely stayed in bounds. “I just ran it and got some good blocking at the end and found a way to get in the end zone.’’
A week after they overcame a 24-0 deficit against Houston, the Chiefs had to rally again.