Hobbled Mahomes leads Chiefs past upstart Jags
Limping along on an injured ankle, Patrick Mahomes threw for 195 yards and two touchdowns Saturday to lead the Chiefs to a 27-20 victory against the visiting Jaguars and a spot in their fifth consecutive AFC Championship Game.
Mahomes missed most of the second quarter after a Jaguars defender landed on his ankle, but he returned in the second half and led the Chiefs on a 75-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that helped to ensure a date with the Bengals-Bills winner Sunday for a spot in the Super Bowl.
If the Bengals win, the AFC title game will be played in Kansas City. If the Bills win, it will be played in Atlanta, the neutral site the NFL chose after the Bills-Bengals game Jan. 2 in Cincinnati was canceled in the wake of Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsing on the field from cardiac arrest.
The question on everyone’s mind is whether Mahomes will be available next week.
‘‘Yeah, X-rays were negative and they haven’t diagnosed anything yet,’’ he said, ‘‘but I’ll be good to go.’’
Travis Kelce had a career-high 14 catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns — one each from Mahomes and backup Chad Henne — for the Chiefs. Isiah Pacheco ran for 95 yards, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling hauled in what proved to be the clinching touchdown with about seven minutes left.
The Jaguars, who rallied from a 27-0 deficit to beat the Chargers in the wild-card round, had two chances to mount another late rally, but they were undone by a fumble and an interception in the last 5½ minutes.
Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence passed for 217 yards with a touchdown and an interception in his first career playoff game.
Hurts, Eagles steamroll Giants
Jalen Hurts threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in a big first half, and the host Eagles rolled past the Giants 38-7 to advance to the NFC Championship Game against the winner of the Cowboys-49ers game, which will be played Sunday.
Hurts, who was 16-for-24 for 154 yards, threw touchdown passes of 16 yards to Dallas Goedert and nine yards to DeVonta Smith in the first quarter and ran five yards for another score in the second as the Eagles opened a 28-0 halftime lead.
‘‘We just wanted to come out and play our best ball,’’ Hurts said. ‘‘I think we chose the right time to do that.’’
The second half was anticlimactic. The Eagles primary goal after halftime was controlling the clock, and they finished with 268 yards rushing.
The Eagles’ defense came up big, too, limiting the Giants to 227 yards of total offense. Daniel Jones was held to 135 yards passing with an interception and was sacked five times.
Bengals eyeing extension for Burrow
NFL Network reported the Bengals are targeting this offseason to sign quarterback Joe Burrow to a lucrative contract extension. The report said the Bengals are expected to pick up their fifth-year option on Burrow’s rookie contract before the league deadline May 1 but will continue to work with his representatives on a big-money extension.
Panthers interview Bills OC Dorsey
The Panthers said they conducted a virtual interview with Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey for their vacant head-coaching job. Dorsey, 41, previously had spent seven seasons with the Panthers, including five as their quarterbacks coach.