Fourth AFC Title In Five Years Goes To The Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs, who appeared weaker than ever since Patrick Mahomes became their primary quarterback in 2018, are returning to the Super Bowl.

Kansas City reached the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years by beating the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 after scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions. They will face the San Francisco 49ers, 2.5-point favorites at ESPN BET late Sunday night in Las Vegas.

Last season, the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVIII and are trying to repeat as Super Bowl winners since the 2004 New England Patriots.

“You don’t take it for granted,” said 30-of-39, 241-yard, score Mahomes. Who knows how many or if you’ll reach any. After a hard season, doing it with these men is wonderful. Men coming together is special. I informed them, ‘The job’s not done.’ Prepare to play a solid football team in the Super Bowl and grab that ring.”

Mahomes’ 32-yard throw to Marquez Valdes-Scantling on third-and-9 with over two minutes left won it. The Ravens would have had time to tie or win with an incompletion.

Mahomes threw a great ball to Valdes-Scantling as the Ravens blitzed. The Chiefs ran out the time.

“It wasn’t hard to call,” thereafter coach Andy Reid laughed. “A few words. No blitz. We knew or had a decent notion there would be zero blitz. We assumed we understood, and it put MVS in a wonderful position to make the play.”

Travis Kelce caught 11 passes for 116 yards and a score. He beat Jerry Rice’s playoff receiving record of 151 during the game.

By finishing 11-6, the Chiefs lost more games than ever with Mahomes as their starter. Sloppy games included a Week 16 home loss to Las Vegas in which the Raiders scored both touchdowns on defense after Chiefs turnovers on back-to-back plays from scrimmage.

However, general manager Brett Veach said the Raiders defeat was a wake-up call for the Chiefs, who won their final two regular-season games and three playoff games.

“Sometimes, the worst things that happened to you or in your season turned out to be the best thing,” remarked Veach. Something was amiss with offense, defense, and special teams, yet we were winning games. We won, but it wasn’t in rhythm. Sometimes that’s deodorant.

“That loss truly affected us and made the whole organization look within. That game was one of the main motivators to get everyone focused.”

Mahomes had his worst season with a QBR of 63, a 7.0 yards-per-attempt average, and a career-high 14 interceptions. His surroundings affected him. Chiefs dropped the most passes in the NFL and had second-most offensive penalties. The Chiefs scored 21.8 points per game this season, 15th in the league’s highest scoring.

In three postseason games, Mahomes has five touchdowns and no picks.

After beating the Miami Dolphins at Arrowhead Stadium in the wild-card round, the Chiefs faced the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round on the road for Mahomes’ first appearance in the playoffs. The underdog Chiefs beat the Bills 27-24.