The Kansas City Chiefs are the AFC’s top playoff seed after defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 29-10, to begin the NFL’s slate of Christmas Day games. Wednesday afternoon was the best the Chiefs offense has looked all season, wracking up 389 all-purpose yards.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes finished 29/38 for 320 yards passing and three touchdowns. Mahomes has thrown 20 touchdowns and just two interceptions in his last ten games.
Tight end Travis Kelce paid tribute to all-time Chiefs legend Tony Gonzalez after securing his 77th career touchdown reception to become the Chiefs’ all-time leader in touchdown catches. Kelce is now the Chiefs franchise record holder in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdown receptions. Since entering the league in 2013, Kelce has played in 175 games (168 starts) and caught 1,004 passes for 12,151 yards and 77 touchdowns.
The Chiefs began its first scoring drive with a few short runs before Mahomes scrambled for a 12-yard gain from the Steelers’ 25-yard line to the 13. After a six-yard pass to tight end Noah Gray, Mahomes threw a short pass to rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy for a seven-yard touchdown to take an early lead. The score was Worthy’s 52nd career reception and his sixth touchdown of the season.
After forcing the Steelers to punt, Kansas City begins moving down the with Mahomes’ arm. First, a 12-yard drive catch by running back Samaje Perine, followed by a 49-yard bomb to Justin Watson to advance the offense to the Pittsburgh 17-yard line.
After a six-yard sweep by Worthy, Mahomes gunned a pass to Watson in the end zone for the touchdown, giving Kansas City an early 13-0 lead with just over four minutes left in the first quarter.
Looking to get their offense going down by two scores, Pittsburgh attempted to get down the field as quickly as possible. On 1st & 10 at his 23-yard line, quarterback Russell Wilson winds up and fires a 49-yard pass to wide receiver George Pickens to get across the field to the Kansas City 36. On the next two plays, running back Jaylen Warren rushed for 28 yards to the eight-yard line.
On the next play, Warren busted into the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown, but the play was nullified because of an offensive-holding foul on wide receiver Darnell Washington. After getting back up ten yards from the penalty, Wilson fired a pass into the end zone, this time looking for tight end Pat Freiermuth, but the throw was intercepted by safety Justin Reid for a touchback. Kansas City’s offense would take over at the 20-yard line, still ahead 13-0.
Unfortunately, Kansas City failed to capitalize off the interception, going three-and-out and being forced to punt. Pittsburgh took over at their 28-yard line after a 14-yard return by Calvin Austin III to begin the second quarter.
The drive began with a four-yard run by Warren, followed by two quick passes by Wilson to move up around midfield. Five plays later, Wilson converts a 3rd & 8 by completing a 15-yard pass to Freiermuth to move within five yards from the end zone. After a four-yard run by Warren, Wilson finished the job by scrambling to his left for a one-yard rushing touchdown.
Both teams traded possessions on the next four drives to go into the half with Kansas City ahead 13-7.
The Chiefs got the ball to open the third quarter. Kansas City’s offense looked like they were on the path to another touchdown, but when Mahomes’ pass to Kelce fell incomplete, failing to convert on 3rd & 10, the Chiefs had to settle for a 32-yard field goal by Harrison Butker.
Pittsburgh responded with a long drive that lasted 13 plays and traveled 47 yards. On 3rd & 5 from the Kansas City 12-yard line, Wilson dropped back, looking to tie the game with a touchdown strike. Instead, he was sacked by defensive end George Karlaftis for a five-yad loss and the Steelers had to settle for a 36-yard field goal.
At the 5:40 mark in the third quarter, Kansas City began its next drive from their 23-yard line. After a ten-yard holding foul on wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mahomes completed a seven-yard pass to Kelce on 1st &16. On the next play, Kansas City got backed up again because of a false start penalty by right tackle Jawaan Taylor.
On 2nd & 14, Mahomes hooked up with wide receiver Hollywood Brown for a 17-yard pickup and a first down. Four plays later, Mahomes converted a 2nd & 6 with a 19-yard completion to Kelce, followed by an 11-yard throw to Worthy, which moved the Chiefs to the Pittsburgh 13-yard line with 58 seconds left in the third quarter. Three plays later, running back Kareem Hunt broke into the end zone for a one-yard score just as the quarter expired. The Chiefs opened the final period by going for the two-point conversion to give them a full two-touchdown lead, but the attempt failed.
Down 22-10, Pittsburgh’s next offense possession ended in disaster very quickly. After throwing incomplete on 1st & 10 at his 30-yard line, Wilson was sacked for a five-yard loss by Felix Anudike-Uzomah. On 3rd & 15 at the 25-yard line, with 14:13 in the fourth quarter, Wilson slings a pass to Freiermuth for a ten-yard gain before cornerback Trent McDuffie gets a hand on the ball and rips it away to force a fumble. The play ends with linebacker Nick Bolton falling on top of it for the recovery.
After the fumble, Kansas City re-took possession at the Pittsburgh 34-yard line with 14:02 in the fourth quarter. After a two-yard run by running back Isiah Pacheco, Mahomes completed a bomb to Kelce for a 20-yard completion. Two plays later, Mahomes looked Kelce’s way again, this time for a 12-yard touchdown to make the all-pro tight end the Chiefs all-time leader in touchdown receptions.
The Chiefs’ defense closed out the rest of the second half, forcing the Steelers to turn the ball over on downs and punt on their final three possessions to preserve a 29-10 victory to clinch the top seed and home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs and improve to a franchise-best 15-1 record on the season.
