KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One week after a fumble into the end zone kept the Kansas City Chiefs slamming the door shut in the AFC Divisional Round, Baltimore Ravens rookie wide receiver Zay Flowers dove for the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter Sunday in the AFC Championship Game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed closed on Flowers as he left his feet and extended the football, punching it free and allowing fellow cornerback Trent McDuffie to recover the fumble in the end zone for a touchback.
“It was huge,” defensive end Chris Jones said of Sneed's forced fumble. “It’s just a testament to the commitment he made throughout the year. The guy’s been making plays all year.”
The play came four snaps after Flowers beat Sneed for a 54-yard catch and run, then taunted the Chiefs' corner on the ground, drawing a 15-yard taunting penalty.
"I didn't track him, and I lost him behind me," Sneed explained. He added, "I was kind of mad at myself because I didn't see him get behind me when I went to safety, but I was like, 'Next play mentality.'"
Kansas City led 17-7 after a scoreless third quarter, and the Ravens were ready to break through and make it a game.
The Chiefs’ defense iced the game on the next drive with another turnover in the end zone.
Three plays after safety Mike Edwards was knocked from the game, his replacement, veteran safety Deon Bush, intercepted Lamar Jackson in the end zone.
Linebacker Nick Bolton and defensive back Chammari Conner also were in coverage as Jackson tried to beat triple coverage with a post throw to tight end Isaiah Likely.
Instead, the Chiefs regrouped and polished off a 17-10 win with a 32-yard, third-down bomb to Marquez Valdes-Scantling on the final play before the two-minute warning, then kneeled their way to victory from there, claiming the Lamar Hunt Trophy as AFC champions for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
"You don't take it for granted," Patrick Mahomes said. "You never know how many you're going to get to or if you're going to get to any. It truly is special. To do it with these guys after what we've been through all season long, guys coming together, it really is special. But I told them, 'The job's not done.'"
After Kansas City struggled in December, especially on offense, and slipped to the third seed in the AFC, Mahomes and company went on the road and mowed down the second-seeded Bills and top-seeded Ravens in back-to-back weeks to return to the NFL's pinnacle game.
“The Chiefs are still the Chiefs; believe it,” Travis Kelce said before adding his signature title-game celebratory refrain. “You’ve got to fight for your right to party. Believe it, baby. We’re going to Las Vegas, Nevada, to go get us another one.”
The Chiefs are now Las Vegas-bound for Super Bowl LVIII against the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers.
Kansas City will have a chance to become the first repeat Super Bowl champions since New England in 2003-04.
“It would be awesome,” said Mahomes, who finished 30 of 39 for 241 yards with a touchdown and no turnovers.
The Chiefs have reached the Super Bowl four times in Mahomes’ six seasons as a starter. They lost in overtime in the AFC Championship Game during the other two seasons.
But this was the first time in those six AFC title-game appearances that Mahomes and company played for a Super Bowl berth away from GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
"I knew going on the road we were going to be OK," Mahomes said. "We've got a lot of dogs in that locker room, and those guys came to play today — defense, offense, special teams."
Kansas City is the third team to reach the Super Bowl four times in five or fewer seasons — joining New England, which won the AFC four of five times during the 2014-18 seasons and won three Super Bowls, and Buffalo, which reached four consecutive Super Bowls during the 1990-93 seasons and lost all of them.
Baltimore’s defense had no answer for tight end Kelce, who finished with 11 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown, while Kansas City’s defense largely bottled up presumptive NFL MVP Lamar Jackson.
Jackson, the Ravens’ star counterpart, finished 20 of 37 for 272 yards with a touchdown, an interception and a fumble lost. He also ran for 54 yards on eight carries, with most of that production coming after halftime with the Chiefs already up by double digits.
DEFENSE DOMINATES: Aside from a missed Leo Chenal sack, which allowed Jackson to scramble around and give Zay Flowers time to get behind linebacker Nick Bolton for a 30-yard touchdown, Kansas City’s defense dominated the first half.
Jackson got rolling a bit in the second half, but key turnovers and sacks prevented the Ravens from really gaining a foothold in the game as the Chiefs won a physical slugfest to reach the Super Bowl again.
“I thought we did a great job,” coach Andy Reid said. “That’s an explosive offense. You start looking at categories of efficiency, and they’re No. 1 in a few spots there.”
In particular, Kansas City's head coach praised the job the defensive line did containing Jackson and the job the linebackers did in pass coverage, against tight ends and wide receivers.
Baltimore finished with only 16 carries for 81 yards rushing, including 46 yards rushing on nine carries before halftime.
While Mahomes finished 20 of 25 for 161 yards with a touchdown in the first half, the Chiefs’ defense limited Jackson, who is likely to win a second MVP award this season, to 5 of 12 for 67 yards passing with a touchdown and a fumble.
The Ravens only had five first downs in the first half and 110 total yards, which is when the game was decided.
The only points in the second half came on a Justin Tucker field goal with 2:34 remaining, but Baltimore never got the ball with a chance to tie the rest of the way.
“Spags (defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) has done an amazing job," Reid said. "Really, all our coordinators did — (Matt) Nagy on the offensive side, Dave Toub with the special teams. It was a joint effort. Everybody rallied it together, but Spags and that defense, they were dirty tough today.”
Baltimore finished with 336 yards — outgaining Kansas City’s offense, which only totaled 319 yards — but couldn’t overcome three turnovers, including two in the end zone.
Defensive end Charles Omenihu, safety Justin Reid, defensive end George Karlaftis and defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton each sacked Jackson, while linebacker Drue Tranquill, who started in place of Willie Gay Jr., had a team-high eight tackles.
"It's special because that's a great team and a great quarterback," Mahomes said. "Spags, it seems like when the games get bigger, when the challenges get higher, he performs even better. The guys executed a game plan well and got timely turnovers."
EARLY OFFENSIVE SUCCESS: Kansas City scored on its opening possession for a remarkable eighth consecutive playoff game.
After the defense forced a three-and-out to start the game, the Chiefs marched 86 yards on 10 plays, including a fourth-down conversion en route to an early lead.
Mahomes completed three passes to Kelce on the drive, including a 19-yard touchdown dart on a back-shoulder throw reminiscent of the game-winning touchdown in “The 13-Second Game” against Buffalo two years ago.
Kansas City had five plays of at least 10 yards on the drive, including a 13-yard completion to Kelce on the fourth-and-2 conversion, and also benefited from a defensive-holding penalty.
Two drives later, Kelce broke the NFL record for postseason receptions (152).
He is one of three players in NFL history with more than 100 postseason receptions — Jerry Rice (151) and Julian Edelman (118).
POSTSEASON PACHECO: For the fourth straight game, running back Isiah Pacheco found the end zone.
Pacheco scored a touchdown in Kansas City’s Super Bowl LVII win against Philadelphia and he hit paydirt again in the Super Wild Card and Divisional rounds before a 2-yard second-quarter score in the AFC title game.
After Baltimore tied the game at 7-7 late in the first quarter, Pacheco capped a 16-play, 75-yard drive that devoured more than 9 minutes with the touchdown.
He finished the first half with 14 carries for 41 yards and also had three catches for 18 yards.
Pacheco only had 68 yards on 24 carries and added four catches for 14 yards against the NFL’s top-scoring defense in the regular season.
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: Defensive end Charles Omenihu, who would leave the game with a knee injury, raced around the left end and got to Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson just in time to reach out and knocked the ball free from his cocked right arm.
With the Chiefs already leading 14-7, the forced fumble set up the offense to put the hammer down.
Kansas City took over the Baltimore 33-yard line and reached the 13-yard line.
But on fourth down, Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton stonewalled Pacheco on a run to the left, and the Chiefs turned the ball over on downs.
Late in the second quarter, Kansas City had a touchdown to Rashee Rice on a screen pass erased by the second of back-to-back holding penalties against right guard Trey Smith.
Backed up to third-and-24 and knocked out of field-goal range by the penalties, Mahomes completed his ninth pass of the half to Kelce for a nine-yard gain.
That was enough for Harrison Butker, who calmly drilled a 52-yard field goal for a 17-7 halftime lead.
WAS TAYLOR SWIFT AT THE GAME?: You know Taylor Swift wasn’t about to miss the AFC Championship Game.
Travis Kelce’s charming girlfriend hit the Charm City to watch the Chiefs vie for another AFC crown and Super Bowl berth.
The Chiefs are now 9-3 overall, including the playoffs, when Swift attends a game. She’s been at every playoff game, but she’ll have to head out of the country before the Super Bowl.
Swift is scheduled to perform four consecutive nights — Feb. 7-10 — at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, but there may be a chance to get to Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII thanks to the 17-hour time difference.
Her next show after the Super Bowl is scheduled for Feb. 16 in Australia.
Swift braved the fourth-coldest game in NFL history to watch Kansas City’s Super Wild Card win against Miami (Jan. 13) and traveled to Buffalo (Jan. 21) for the AFC Divisional Round last week.
During the regular season, Swift attended games against Chicago (Sept. 24), Denver (Oct. 12), the Los Angeles Chargers (Oct. 22), Buffalo (Dec. 10), Las Vegas (Dec. 25) and Cincinnati (Dec. 31) at Arrowhead.
She has made appearances at road games against the New York Jets (Oct. 1), Green Bay (Dec. 3) and New England (Dec. 17).
Swift joined Kelce and the rest of the team on the field for the trophy presentation ceremony after the win.
WAS JASON KELCE THERE AGAIN?: Yes, the Chiefs tight end’s older brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, was spotted in the crowd.
Unlike last week in Buffalo, Jason Kelce had his shirt on and seemed to be interacting less with the crowd, though he still had a beer in his hands.
UP NEXT: Kansas City will face San Francisco on Feb. 11 in Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The game is a rematch of Super Bowl LIV, which the Chiefs won 31-20 after rallying from a 10-point deficit entering the fourth quarter.
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