Chiefs’ Mahomes in concussion protocol after playoff win
KANSAS CITY, MO. (AP) » The Kansas City Chiefs built a defense and signed a backup quarterback that were good enough to preserve a win.
Now, are they good enough to win on their own?
The Chiefs, who lost Patrick Mahomes to a concussion in the third quarter of Sunday’s divisional-round win over Cleveland, might have to find out with their hopes of back-to-back AFC titles and a Super Bowl repeat on the line.
Mahomes remained in the league’s concussion protocol Monday and coach Andy Reid declined to speculate on when he’ll be cleared.
“Because of the protocol it’s a no-brainer,” Reid explained of the decision, which rests not in his hands but those of team doctors and outside experts. “You don’t even have to think about it. You just go forward. You have an answer if he’s there and if he’s not there. I can’t tell you an answer from a medical standpoint. I just don’t know.”
If Mahomes is unable to play, 35-year-old journeyman Chad Henne would start against Buffalo in Sunday’s AFC title game.
Henne took over when Ma
homes sustained the concussion with the Chiefs leading 19-10, and he finished the drive by leading Kansas City to a field goal. But more memorable will be the two plays he made in the fourth quarter, when the Chiefs were trying to hold onto a 22-17 lead and run out the clock on the win.
On third-and-14 in his own territory, Henne scrambled to his left and found some open space, then sacrificed his body by diving for the first-down marker. Henne came up just short, and when Reid elected to go for it rather than punt, the coach put the game in his hands by calling a short pass play to Tyreek Hill that gave Kansas
City a first down.
“I thought Chad played with great composure, particularly for that situation,” Reid said, “and to come down to that last series, that big run was gravy. He dusted off those old legs, got them moving a bit, came up a hair short, came back and made a nice throw to Tyreek to clinch it.”
That throw wouldn’t have been possible without a big stand by the Kansas City defense.
After allowing the Browns to convert their own fourth down with 5:30 to go, they stuffed Nick Chubb and forced Baker Mayfield to throw an incompletion. And when they tackled Kareem Hunt for a loss on the ensuing thirddown pass play, the Browns were forced to punt with 4:23 left in the game.
They never got another chance with the ball.