The Kansas City Chiefs are heading back to their fourth Super Bowl in five years after dominating the Baltimore Ravens, 17-10, on their home field at M&T Bank Stadium to win the AFC Championship on Sunday afternoon. Sunday was Kansas City’s sixth AFC Championship appearance and the fourth time they took home the Lamar Hunt trophy in as many seasons.
The Chiefs entered the Bank in front of a rowdy crowd that had been rocking since pre-game, setting up an intimidating atmosphere. Former Ravens greats Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs were in attendance as well. But none of that seemed to phase Andy Reid’s team. Kansas City won the coin toss but deferred to receive the ball to start the second half, giving Lamar Jackson and Baltimore’s high-powered offense the first crack at crossing the goalline.
Instead, the Ravens were stunned by the Chiefs’ defense, which allowed two short runs and an incomplete pass to force the Ravens off the field in three plays. Kansas City’s offense began their first possession at their 14-yard line following an eight-yard punt return by Richie James.
Mahomes began the drive with a four-yard pass to tight end Travis Kelce, who finished the game with 11 receptions and passed Jerry Rice as the all-time leader of postseason catches. On the following play, Mahomes hit running back Isiah Pacheco for a 10-yard catch, an 11-yard reception by receiver Rashee Rice, and a 12-yard run by Pacheco.
Four plays later, Mahomes converts a 4th & 2 with a last-second throw to Kelce, who makes a diving catch for a new set of downs. Kansas City reached the end zone after a four-yard run by Pacheco, and a five-yard defensive holding foul on Baltimore moved the Chiefs to the Raven 19-yard line. On the next play, Mahomes throws a dart to Kelce in the bottom right corner of the end zone for the touchdown to go up 7-0.
Baltimore quickly tied the game at seven on their next possession. After quarterback Lamar Jackson completed a nine-yard pass to tight end Mark Andrews, he converted 4th & 1 with a 21-yard scramble to the Kansas City 45-yard line. Two plays later, Jackson threw a strike to wide receiver Zay Flowers for a 30-yard touchdown connection.
Kansas City’s second possession began with 4:58 left in the first quarter. On 2nd and 7, Mahomes hit Rashee Rice for a 10-yard pass play. Two plays later, Mahomes picked up 11 yards with his legs to create a short third down with one yard to go. Kansas City moved the chains via Kelce catching a six-yard pass from the reigning league MVP. Six plays later in the second quarter, Mahomes finds Kelce for a 10-yard gain to convert on third and long.
After a trio of short run plays, Kansas City takes a seven-point lead when Pacheco barrels into the end zone for a two-yard rushing touchdown.
Looking to tie the game back up with under eleven minutes remaining in the first half, Baltimore attempts to move downfield. After converting on 3rd and 1, Jackson was ready to throw the ball on 1st down. However, his arm was rounded up by defensive end Charles Omenihu, forcing a fumble that George Karlaftis caroled for the game’s first turnover.
Unfortunately, Kansas City turned the ball over on downs after seven plays for 20 yards. Both teams exchanged possessions for the rest of the first half until the Chiefs cashed in on a 52-yard field goal before going into the locker room at halftime.
In the third quarter, neither team moved the ball efficiently and played field position for five possessions. At the 00:49 mark, Jackson soared a pass to Flowers for a 54-yard connection. However, Flowers got flagged for taunting after the play for standing over cornerback L’Jarius Sneed and spiking near his head while lying on the ground. The foul shortened the play to a 39-yard gain to the Chiefs’ 25-yard line instead of the ten where the play ended.
Four plays later, Sneed forced a fumble as Flowers caught an eight-yard pass and dove for the goal line. But before he got to the end zone, Sneed’s hand popped the ball loose, creating a fumble that Kansas City recovered for a touchback. The Chiefs punted after nine plays.
Still down 17-7 with 10:36 left in the fourth quarter, Baltimore’s offense took over backed up on their one-yard line, credit to punter Tommy Towsend’s 47-yard punt. Baltimore would move more than 70 yards down the field to the Chiefs’ 25-yard line, where Jackson would make a costly mistake, throwing a pass toward the end zone in triple coverage. By no surprise, the pass was intercepted by Kansas City’s Deon Bush, dashing the Raven’s chances of making a comeback.
After forcing the Chiefs to punt, Baltimore got another crack at chipping away at the deficit. But after nine plays, they set up Justin Tucker to nail through a 43-yard field goal. Still down by seven, Baltimore needed a defensive stop to get the ball back before time expired with 2:34 remaining. The Ravens had the opportunity to send the Chiefs back to the bench after two short runs went nowhere, forcing 3rd and 9. However, Mahomes lobbed a by over the defense and into the waiting arms of Marquez Valdes-Scantling to move the chains and gain a new set of downs. The play also put the game on ice as the Ravens ran out of timeouts, allowing Kansas City to bleed the rest of the clock and take their fourth AFC Championship victory in six years.
