The Kansas City Chiefs win their fourth consecutive AFC West division championship following a stout victory over the New England Patriots, a rematch of last season’s AFC Championship game.
Following a blocked field goal by defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon that was recovered by cornerback Charvarious Ward to give the Chiefs some momentum after a slow start, the Chiefs offense went on a 17-point run to go into the half with a 20-7 lead.
While Patrick Mahomes threw for 283 yards and a touchdown to give the Chiefs the lead going into the half, it was the defense that took charge to keep Tom Brady and the Patriots’ lethal offense in check.
From the defensive linemen to the secondary, all three levels of Kansas City’s defense was able to get pressure on Brady and forced him into some erratic throws. Brady was limited to just 19 completions on 36 passing attempts for 169 yards and a touchdown. He was also intercepted by cornerback Bashaud Breeland and sacked three times.
Kansas City’s run defense also had a tough test against running back James White, who’s made himself known to a very dangerous weapon out of the backfield for New England. Yet, the Chiefs did a great job holding him to just 33 yards on 6 carries on the ground and 5 catches for 27 yards through the air.
Most impressively, White did not reach the endzone for four quarters.
In the second half, the Patriots put on a defensive display that did a great job keeping Mahomes on the sidelines and holding the Chiefs to just three points in the final two periods.
Meanwhile, it seems like the Patriots were going to make a comeback and managed to close the gap to just a touchdown to tie the game.
Luckily, Kansas City caught a few breaks from the referees including a fumble by tight end Travis Kelce that was picked up by New England. However, Kelce was initially ruled down which disrupted what would’ve been a go-ahead score for the Patriots. Head Coach Bill Belichick was forced to use his final challenge flag of the game to get the play reviewed.
Nevertheless, the Patriots were able to take the game right where they wanted and that in the red zone on 4 & goal with a touchdown extending the game to overtime.
Brady throws a quick pass, left side, to his favorite target Julian Edelman but the play was broken up by Bashaun Breeland to win the game for Kansas City.
The job that the Chiefs were able to do defensively against New England is something that they’ve been putting together for the past month and they are beginning to show that they are no longer the same unit that has ranked at the bottom of the league for the better part of the year.
If the Chiefs offense can get back on track and the defense can continue its resurgence, they’ll be a tough out in the postseason.
Kansas City’s win mixed with Oakland’s blowout loss to the Tennessee Titans means the Chiefs will take the AFC West for a franchise-best fourth consecutive season and punch their ticket into the postseason for the sixth time under Head Coach Andy Reid.
Kansas City now holds tiebreakers over both the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots which puts a first-round bye in play if the Chiefs were to tie either of these two teams at the end of the season.
Kansas City now heads back to Arrowhead Stadium to prepare round two against a confident Denver Broncos teams led by Missouri’s own, Drew Lock.
