KANSAS CITY SPECIAL
Mahomes leads Chiefs on ground, in air to 1st Super Bowl since 1970
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With his best imitation of a tightrope walker, Patrick Mahomes high-wired the Chiefs into their first Super Bowl since 1970.
Oh, sure, Mahomes did his usual superb job passing, but it was his 27yard tap dance down the left sideline late in the first half that gave the Chiefs their first lead. From there, they outran the run-oriented Titans and star back Derrick Henry for a 35-24 victory Sunday in the AFC Championship Game.
At last, for the third time overall, the Chiefs are headed to the Super Bowl.
In two weeks in Miami, they’ll play the 49ers.
“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.
“Very excited and very emotional to win the trophy that has my dad’s name on it,” Hunt said. ‘‘Yeah, 50 years were too long, but we’re going to another Super Bowl.”
The Chiefs lost in 1967 in the first AFL-NFL Championship Game — nope, it wasn’t called the Super Bowl yet — to the Lombardi Packers 35-10. Three years later, and one year after Joe Namath and the Jets shocked the Baltimore Colts, Kansas City was back. This time, it was known as the Super Bowl — indeed, Lamar Hunt is credited with coming up with the name — and the Chiefs hammered the Vikings 23-7 with the typical Wild West offensive flair and a staunch defense. Those are characteristics that helped carry Kansas City this season.
Reid isn’t as animated as Hall of Famer Hank Stram, who famously urged the Chiefs to “keep matriculating the ball down the field, boys.”
Caught up in the moment, Reid said, “It’s awesome,” before asking the crowd to chant, ‘‘How about those Chiefs?”
Moments later, standout tight end Travis Kelce proclaimed, “You gotta fight for your right to party.”
There will be plenty of partying on South Beach for Chiefs Kingdom heading into the championship matchup.
“Fired up to go to Miami, got to get on a diet, so I can fit into my clothes,” Reid said. “Very proud.”
As they had done in their last three “elimination” games, the sixthseeded Titans 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 seven rushing yards in the second half.
“They were doubling all these guys,” Mahomes said of his spectacular touchdown run in 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.”
The Chiefs outrushed the Titans 112-85. Mahomes led the way with 53 of those yards and also completed 23 of 35 passes for 294 yards.