After Mahomes KO’d, K.C. stops Cleveland
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs had lost AllPro quarterback Patrick Mahomes to a concussion and were in danger of losing the game.
Then their defense and backup QB Chad Henne, along with a gutsy call by head coach Andy Reid, kept their hopes of a Super Bowl repeat alive as they held off the Cleveland Browns 2217 on Sunday to advance to the AFC Championship Game for the third straight year.
With Mahomes reduced to being a spectator, the oftforgotten bunch opposite Mahomes’ highpowered offense forced the Browns to punt in the waning minutes. Then, his 35yearold backup showed some moxie with a 13yard thirddown scramble and audacious fourthdown completion to Tyreek Hill — when the goforbroke head coach decided to go for it — that gave the Chiefs a first down with just more than a minute left and allowed them to run out the clock.
“That’s why we love Big Red. He’s always on time,” Kansas City safety Tyrann Mathieu said of Reid. “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.”
Or, as Mahomes tweeted after the win: “#HenneThingIsPossible.”
“We go through all those Saturday night with the quarterbacks, those situations: ‘Fourthand1 to win the game. What do you want?’ ” Reid said. “My coaches were on board, they all did a great job with the spot, with the calls, everything — they were spoton. It was a great job.”
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 was 21for30 passing for 255 yards and a TD and ran for another score.
Harrison Butker added three field goals for the Chiefs, who nearly wasted a 193 lead. They became the first AFC team to host three consecutive conferencetitle games. They’ll face Buffalo on Sunday.
“It stings,” Cleveland head 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 and a touchdown with one 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 — and defensive letdown kept them from winning two playoff games in a season for the first time since 1950.
“It came down to us on defense and we let it slip,” Cleveland pass rusher Myles Garrett said. “We had two opportunities. We didn’t make it happen. It was right in front of us and we just — this time, we didn’t get it done.”
Mahomes completed 11 of his first 12 passes and led the Chiefs to backtoback touchdowns to start the game. He ran for the first and then Travis Kelce scored on 20yard catch for the other. In the process, Mahomes became the first player since the 49ers’ Steve Young in 1995 with three consecutive playoff games with TDs on the ground and through the air.
Mahomes didn’t finish what he started, though. After he was tackled around the head with 7:27 left in the third quarter, he was forced to leave the game.
“It kind of knocked the wind out of him and everything else,” Reid said. “He’s doing great right now, which is a real positive as we look at this. He passed all the deals he needed to pass and we’ll see where it goes from here.”
The Chiefs have advanced, in part because Mahomes’ departure didn’t stop his teammates.
“It’s a little different when your quarterback goes down, someone so important to your offense and your team,” Kelce said, “but you have to throw it all into the same bucket of, ‘When adversity hits, what are you going to do? Where does your mind go? Where do we go from here as a team?’ We rallied around Chad, gave him some confidence, knowing we were out there making plays every single snap, just like if Pat was out there.”