The Kansas City Chiefs put a stop to the impressive playoff run by the Tennessee Titans and claimed for themselves their first Super Bowl berth in 50 years.
After 49 seasons of misery, the Kansas City Chiefs have finally done it. They’ve ensured their place in a Super Bowl for the first time in a half-century with their 35-24 win over the Tennessee Titans.
In a game that reminded the NFL of Patrick Mahomes‘ greatness and the offensive genius of Andy Reid, the Chiefs not only won the Lamar Hunt Trophy as the AFC champions but gave themselves a legitimate chance to hoist the Lombardi as well.
Once again this offseason, the Chiefs started slow against the Titans facing a 10-point deficit at two different junctures. The Chiefs held the Titans to a field goal to start the game, but went three-and-out on their own first drive to give the Titans the ball right back. The Titans responded with an impressive 9-play drive that ended with a Derrick Henry touchdown run to go up by 10.
The Chiefs responded with a touchdown drive of their own highlighted by a 24-yard pass to Travis Kelce and a touchdown to Tyreek Hill. From there, the Titans took 15 plays to drive 75 yards in response for another touchdown, an unexpected pass from Ryan Tannehill to offensive lineman Dennis Kelly (who was an eligible receiver on the play). Mike Vrabel‘s team deserved a lot of credit for going up like they did at 17-7.
From there, however, the Chiefs took over and scored 21 unanswered points as the Chiefs defense put the clamps down on the Titans offense as well. The Chiefs needed only two-and-a-half minutes to go 63 yards on the next touchdown drive to bring it within three points as Hill caught another 20-yard touchdown. After a Titans punt, Mahomes scrambled 27 yards for a rushing touchdown near the end of the half to go up 21-17.
After trading punts in the second half, the Chiefs went on another touchdown drive in what felt like a troll job on Derrick Henry and the Titans. The Chiefs rushed the ball for almost the entire 13 play drive that culminated in a Damien Williams score. Suddenly the Chiefs were up by two possessions into the fourth quarter. Another Titans punt allowed the Chiefs to put up a deep score on a 60-yard touchdown to Sammy Watkins.
The Titans answered with a clever fake punt that led to a touchdown pass from Tannehill to tight end Anthony Firkser, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit built up by K.C. in the fourth quarter.
The Chiefs now await the winner of the Green Bay Packers vs. San Francisco 49ers to see who will be their opponent in the Super Bowl.