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Mahomes just told Trevor Lawrence, "I'll be good." Presumably in relation to his ankle.
Chiefs vs. Jaguars score, takeaways: Patrick Mahomes shakes off ankle injury, leads K.C. to AFC Championship
Kansas City makes the conference championship game for the fifth straight season
The Kansas City Chiefs have punched their ticket to the AFC Championship Game for the fifth straight season, as Andy Reid's squad defeated Doug Pederson and the Jacksonville Jaguars, 27-20. Patrick Mahomes suffered an ankle injury toward the end of the first quarter after taking a low hit. He missed one drive, but shook off the pain and returned in the second half to lead Kansas City to victory.
The Chiefs jumped out to a 17-10 halftime lead thanks to two touchdowns from star tight end Travis Kelce. His 10 catches in the first half tied the record for most receptions in a first half of a playoff game since 1991. The best tight end in the NFL finished with 14 catches for 98 yards and two scores.
Travis Etienne scored a 4-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to pull the Jaguars within three points, but the hobbled Mahomes led a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in response, hitting Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a 6-yard score to push the lead back to 10 points. The Jaguars then turned the ball over on consecutive possessions, which opened the door for the Chiefs to run out the clock.
Mahomes becomes the first quarterback in NFL history to lead his team to five conference championship games before turning 30 years old, while the Chiefs will become the third team to make five straight conference championship games, matching the Oakland Raiders from the 1970s, and the 2011-18 New England Patriots. With the victory, Andy Reid now joins Bill Belichick (31) and Tom Landry (20) as the only coaches with 20 postseason wins.
So, what happened in Kansas City on Saturday? Let's take a look.
Why the Chiefs won
Kelce led all tight ends this season in receptions (110), receiving yards (1,338) and receiving touchdowns (12). The Jaguars allowed the third-most receiving yards (1,087), third-most yards per reception (13.1) and the fifth-most yards after catch per reception to tight ends this season. Can you guess what the Chiefs' plan of attack was entering this game?
Kelce set the single-game playoff record for a tight end with 14 catches. It was his fifth career playoff game with double-digit receptions, which is good for most in NFL history. With his two touchdowns, Kelce now has 14 touchdown receptions in the playoffs. He trails only tight end Rob Gronkowski (15) and Hall of Fame wideout Jerry Rice (22).
The Chiefs' star tight end was a big reason why Kansas City is advancing to the final four, but its offensive efficiency as a whole was impressive. The Chiefs finished the regular season with the No. 1 total offense (413.6 yards per game), No. 1 passing offense (297.8 yards per game) and the No. 1 scoring offense with 29.2 points scored per game. Kansas City scored on all three of its "real" first-half possessions -- even with Chad Henne at quarterback -- who led a 12-play, 98-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter. That marked the longest touchdown drive in Chiefs' postseason history. The Chiefs didn't punt until the second half, and even when the offense went stagnant for a bit, Mahomes rebounded to lead a touchdown drive in the fourth quarter which ultimately sealed the deal.
If you want to beat the Chiefs, you have to stop them from scoring points.
Why the Jaguars lost
Unlike the Chiefs, the Jaguars scored in all four quarters of this matchup. However, if you lose the time of possession battle AND the turnover battle against Kansas City you are not going to win. The Jaguars did some good things in this matchup, but missed opportunities crushed them.
A tripping penalty ruined a drive early in the second quarter, Christian Kirk missed on a deep pass that could have potentially been a Jaguars touchdown later in the second quarter and then two fourth-quarter turnovers virtually ended the game. You don't have to be perfect to defeat the Chiefs, but you need to be close. Penalties and turnovers will kill you.
Turning point
Down 10 points with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Jaguars needed to score. Lawrence led Jacksonville down to the Chiefs' 9-yard line, but then Jamal Agnew fumbled the ball 6 yards short of the end zone.
The Jaguars then forced a three-and-out as the Chiefs tried to run some clock, and the Jacksonville offense took over with 4:18 remaining in the game. Two plays into the drive, however, Lawrence threw an interception to Jaylen Watson. This series of unfortunate events put the game on ice.
Play of the game
One foot, no problem. Mahomes threw what ended up being the game-winning touchdown off of his non-injured foot in the fourth quarter -- a strike to Valdes-Scantling to extend Kansas City's lead to 10 points. It was a pretty gutsy toss with the safety sitting right in the middle of the field.
Quotable
"I'll be good to go." -- Mahomes speaking to NBC Sports on his ankle injury after the final whistle.
What's next
The Chiefs will await the winner of the Cincinnati Bengals-Buffalo Bills matchup Sunday. If the Bengals win, the AFC Championship will be played at Arrowhead Stadium. If the Bills win, the AFC Championship will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. As for the Jaguars, they will now turn their attention to the offseason.
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Kadarius Toney fields the kick, and the Chiefs seal the win. They'll play in their FIFTH consecutive AFC title game next week.
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Patterson's field goal is good from 48 yards, and it will all come down to the onside kick.
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Well now things could get interesting. Jags are in long field goal range right now. Might need another play to get one he can definitely make, and then would have to go for an onside kick.
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The Jaguars (likely) will have the No. 25 overall pick in the draft, as the team with the worst record to lose in the Divisional Round.
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The Chiefs will (likely) advance to the AFC title game and play against either the Bills or Bengals. If Buffalo wins tomorrow, the game will be played at a neutral site in Atlanta. If Cincinnati wins tomorrow, the game is at Arrowhead.
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And then the corner on the opposite side, Jaylen Watson, picks off Lawrence. He made his first start of the season back in Week 2 after McDuffie got injured in Week 1, and he had a pick-six against Justin Herbert.
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Kirk is back in the game. Sneed is out, which means Trent McDuffie has moved into the slot for KC.
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Very big third-down stop. Chiefs went with three tight ends and crowded the line of scrimmage and then tried to run it up the middle with no misdirection, which helped out the Jags defensive line.
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The Jaguars just announced that Kirk is QUESTIONABLE to return with a knee injury.
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What a scramble by Lawrence! Looked like he might even get caught behind the line of scrimmage, but he outran everybody to turn the corner and then got the first down... but Jamal Agnew fumbled the ball away on the very next snap. Wow.
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That's a terrific catch by Zay Jones. Sliding, reaching back behind himself while on the ground. Very smooth stuff.
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Kirk has been Jacksonville's best receiver tonight, so if he can't come back that is a huge loss for the Jags as they attempt to come back. Looks like he injured his knee while coming down from the hit in the air.
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Christian Kirk looks like he is in a lot of pain at the end of that play. Tough to tell exactly what the injury issue is but I imagine we'll see some replays when NBC comes back from commercial.
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What a drive for KC. And a really nice design on that touchdown with Kelce checking down underneath to draw the safety up, and Mahomes flipping it to MVS in the back of the end zone.
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Alright, this is where the Chiefs usually like to get crazy. Obviously with Mahomes hobbled that is a bit more difficult. But let's see what Andy Reid has in store anyway.
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Not the biggest night for JuJu but he did a great job of using his body to shield the defender there. He's a lot bigger than people think: 6-1, 215 pounds.
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14 catches (on 17 targets) for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns for Kelce. Outrageous stuff. Now one catch away from the NFL playoff record.
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Mahomes and Kelce not on the same page on that corner stop route. Very unusual for that duo.
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Etienne was immediately surrounded by defenders as he got to the hole, so he just jump-cut to his right and plunged his way into the end zone. Jags back within three points. Drama upcoming, folks.
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Zay Jones had been extremely quiet tonight, but he just came up with a huge play to get the Jags into the red zone. 37-yard grab on the corner route. Nobody picked him up once he got to the second level of the defense.
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That time, Lawrence was able to step up and avoid the sack, and take off down the field. He's been very good at avoiding sacks so far in his career.
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Jags looked like they were trying to finally set up a downfield throw there, but Derrick Nnadi came through the line with the quickness and dragged Lawrence to the ground before he could even hitch at the top of his drop and set up to unleash the ball.
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Mahomes tried to throw to MVS on the wide side of the field on consecutive plays, and on both plays the throw was a little bit short. Either way that play was not going to count because JuJu was called for offensive pass interference on the pick play.
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Again, the Jaguars were the worst team in the NFL at defending tight ends this season. Gerald Everett and Donald Parham tore them up last week. Kelce is going off tonight, and they just left Noah Gray wide the heck open right there.
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Lawrence had Kirk open on an out-breaker but looked like he short-armed the throw. And Kirk slipped on his release and during the route stem.
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Evan Engram has been having some huge games of late, but he's only at 3 catches for 18 yards right now. Big catch on third down there, though.
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