Chiefs hold on after Mahomes’ concussion
The Kansas City Chiefs had lost Patrick Mahomes to a concussion and were in danger of losing the game.
Then their defense and Chad Henne — their defense and Chad Henne?! — kept their hopes of a Super Bowl repeat alive, holding off the Cleveland Browns 22-17 on Sunday to advance to their third straight AFC championship game.
“#HenneThingIsPossible,” a sidelined Mahomes wrote on Twitter immediately after the victory.
With their star quarterback reduced to a spectator, the oft-forgotten bunch opposite Mahomes’ high-powered offense forced the Browns to punt in the waning minutes. Then, his 35-year-old backup showed some moxie with a long third-down scramble and audacious fourth-down completion to Tyreek Hill — when go-for-broke Andy Reid decided to go for it — that gave the Chiefs a first down with just over a minute left and allowed them to run out the clock.
“That’s why we love Big Red. He’s always on time,” Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “He’s like our spirit warrior out here behind the scenes. He’s always trying stuff. We always knew he has one play on the table.”
Mahomes hadn’t played in 21 days, since the Chiefs clinched the AFC’s top seed in Week 16, but he hardly missed a beat before leaving midway through the third quarter. He finished 21 of 30 for 255 yards and touchdowns passing and running.
Harrison Butker added three field goals for the Chiefs, who nearly blew a 19-3 lead but survived to become the first AFC team to host three consecutive conference title games. They’ll face the Buffalo Bills next Sunday.
“It stings,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. “We came here to win and didn’t get the job done. There is a finality to that.”
Baker Mayfield threw for 204 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Browns, who were coming off their first playoff win since the 1994 season. But their inability to drive for the winning touchdown — they punted with 4:23 left in the game — kept them from winning two playoff games in a season for the first time since 1950.
Mahomes completed 11 of his first 12 passes and led the Chiefs to back-to-back touchdowns to start the game. Mahomes ran for the first and let Travis Kelce turn a dump-off into a 20-yard catch for the other, making him the first player since Steve Young in 1995 with three straight playoff games with TDs on the ground and through the air.
In fact, Mahomes was so sharp passing in the first half that he even completed a celebratory heave to a lucky fan in the far reaches of Arrowhead Stadium’s upper deck following his touchdown jaunt. BUCCANEERS 30, SAINTS 20 >> Tom Brady’s best game in three tries against New Orleans kept the Buccaneers moving on in the NFL playoffs, and has Saints quarterback Drew Brees headed home — perhaps for good.
Brady and the Bucs’ offense turned three Saints turnovers, including two interceptions of Brees, into touchdowns, and Tampa Bay beat New Orleans 30-20 in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs Sunday night.
Two of those touchdowns came on short passes to Mike Evans and Leonard Fournette. And after Brees was intercepted by linebacker Devin White in the middle of the fourth quarter, Brady drove the Bucs to the 1, from where he scored himself to all but ensure his 14th trip to a conference championship game — his first in the NFC.
That game will take place in Green Bay next week, where the 43-year-old Brady will try to advance to his 10th Super Bowl in a showdown with Packers All-Pro QB Aaron Rodgers.
Meanwhile, the Brees era in New Orleans could be over after 15 seasons.
The game may have been the last in the Superdome for the 42-year-old Brees, who is under contract for one more year but has not discussed any plans to play beyond this season, and has sometimes hinted at his impending retirement.
If it was his last game, it won’t be one he’ll want to remember. The NFL’s alltime leader in completions and yards passing was 19 of 34 for 134 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.
Brady finished 18 of 33 for 199 yards in what often resembled more of a defensive struggle. Unlike his previous two meetings with the Saints — both losses — he was not intercepted and largely avoided pressure, taking only one sack.
PICK-6 SPARKS BILLS >> Taron Johnson could’ve kept running into next week on a 101-yard interception that carried the Buffalo Bills to their first AFC championship game appearance in 27 years. Johnson’s pick-6 of Lamar Jackson’s pass with 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter secured a 17-3 win over the Baltimore Ravens in a divisional-round playoff game late Saturday night.
The interception return matched the longest in NFL history.
Jackson was sacked four times and did not return after being evaluated for a concussion following the final play of the third quarter, and two plays after Johnson scored.