Chiefs to face the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII after beating Bengals, 23-20, to set up an Andy Reid reunion
Patrick Mahomes led Kansas City on the winning drive, paving the way for Reid to coach against his old team for the championship.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. ― In a game that was billed as a showdown between two of the NFL’s top gunslingers, Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow didn’t disappoint.
In the fourth installment of what is quickly becoming one of the league’s best dramas, Mahomes and Burrow went throw for throw with a place in Super Bowl LVII on the line. Almost a year to the day after Burrow and the Bengals went into GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium and beat the Chiefs, Mahomes and the Chiefs avenged their AFC title game defeat, 23-20, Sunday as Harrison Butker kicked a game-winning 45-yard field goal with 3 seconds left.
After both defenses stiffened late into the fourth quarter, Mahomes got one last chance with 30 seconds to go following a 29-yard punt return from Skyy Moore. A few plays later, on what proved to be a decisive third-and-4, Mahomes hobbled on his bad ankle for a first down, tiptoeing out of bounds before Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai shoved him late. Ossai’s boneheaded late hit resulted in a 15-yard penalty being tacked on to the run, moving the Chiefs into field-goal range and setting the stage for Butker to become the hero.
“I think I just tried to do whatever I could to win and obviously there was times where you can see that [my ankle] wouldn’t let me do what I wanted to,” said Mahomes on his key scramble. “But I was able to do enough in that last play to get the first down and get myself out of bounds and try to get Harrison the chance to win.”
The veteran kicker did the rest, splitting the uprights to send the Chiefs back to the Super Bowl for the third time in four years. There, the Chiefs will meet Andy Reid’s former longtime team, the Eagles, on Feb. 12 in Glendale, Ariz.
“I had a great time there,” Reid said afterward when asked about his tenure in Philadelphia. “So 14 years, a long time, huh? I’m happy for them. I’m happy for the city. They’re passionate, they love football. I can’t wait until Kansas City and Philly clash, it’s gonna be awesome. What a great, great Super Bowl.”
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Known primarily for their prolific offense, it was the Chiefs’ defense that wreaked havoc on the Bengals early and often, sacking Burrow five times, forcing two turnovers, and buckling down in the red zone at key moments. Chiefs pass-rushing aces Frank Clark and Chris Jones, who had two sacks apiece, were particularly disruptive, as the Bengals’ offensive line, which was down starting left tackle Jonah Williams and right guard Alex Cappa, struggled to keep Burrow upright.
On the offensive side of the ball, an early field goal contest finally produced its first touchdown with 3 minutes, 59 seconds left in the second quarter, Mahomes finding his favorite target, Travis Kelce, to put the Chiefs up, 13-3. After much of the week’s chatter centered around how Mahomes would hold up after he suffered a high right ankle sprain in the divisional round against Jacksonville, he put those concerns to bed early by marching the Chiefs down the field for a field goal on their opening drive. The MVP favorite moved around better than expected and looked crisp throwing the ball, even if the Chiefs’ offense stalled a few times after moving inside the 30-yard line.
Meanwhile, “Joe Cool” was anything but in the early stages Sunday, as the third-year signal caller was sacked three times in the first quarter, and was picked off by Chiefs corner Jaylen Watson on a play when Tee Higgins wasn’t yet looking for the ball. After a key defensive stand by the Bengals to keep the score at 13-3, Burrow and the Bengals finally got something going via the two-minute drill and cut the K.C. lead to 13-6 at the half.
The Bengals soon were on level standing again, as on their opening drive of the second half, Burrow led the offense on an eight-play, 62-yard drive capped off by a ridiculous 27-yard catch by Higgins on a jump ball in the far corner of the end zone. Burrow finished 26-of-41 for 270 yards, but also threw two costly interceptions.
That’s when this one started to trend toward an instant classic.
Mahomes quickly answered Burrow with a touchdown drive of his own. The Chiefs went 77 yards on 11 plays over 5:39 to jump back in front, 20-13. On a third-and-10, Mahomes hit Marques Valdez-Scantling, who led Kansas City with 116 receiving yards, with an inch-perfect delivery on a deep slant for a touchdown, just getting the ball there before defensive back Mike Hilton could break up the play.
“I actually was the last read on that play,” Valdez-Scantling said. “It was like a zero coverage to me and the cornerback that they doubled Trav [Kelce with]. He was the first read and once I saw that safety trigger on Trav and the corner was outside leverage, I was like ‘Pat, throw me the ball’ and I put my hand up and without sounding like a bad guy, he’s always finding a way to get people the ball. He has eyes all over his head.”
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Just when it looked like the Chiefs were again exerting their control, Mahomes fumbled, the ball flukily slipping out of his hand without any contact. The turnover could have proved a turning point in the contest as it led to a 2-yard touchdown from Cincinnati running back Samaje Perine, which knotted things up at 20 early in the fourth quarter.
The score remained deadlocked until the final seconds when Butker, who has endured an up-and-down season, trotted out to try and win it. His kick was true, sending a raucous Arrowhead crowd of 73,426 into pure ecstasy. The win was Mahomes’ first in four tries against Burrow, and first in two postseason meetings. The Chiefs quarterback finished 29-of-43 with 326 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.
The Chiefs will meet the 14-3 Eagles, who took care of the San Francisco 49ers, 31-7, in the NFC championship earlier on Sunday. In addition to Reid’s reunion with the Eagles, whom he coached from 1999 to 2012, the game will also see the Kelce brothers square off, as Kansas City tight end Travis’ older brother, Jason, is the starting center for the Eagles.