Patrick Mahomes threw for 177 yards and a touchdown, most of them to Travis Kelce, and the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Houston Texans 23-14 on Saturday to advance to the AFC Championship Game for the seventh consecutive season, all with the talented quarterback wearing number 15 as the team’s starter.
With his girlfriend Taylor Swift and WNBA star Caitlin Clark watching from a box, Kelce made seven receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown, helping the Chiefs (16-2) keep their dream of winning a third consecutive Super Bowl title alive, something unprecedented.
The Chiefs are the fourth team in NFL history that, after winning the Lombardi Trophy consecutively, advances to the conference title game, and the previous three lost. The Steelers in the 1976 season fell in the AFC final against the Raiders; in 1990 the Giants defeated Joe Montana's 49ers in the NFC title game, and the Cowboys fell to the 49ers in the National Conference final.
Kansas City will try to change that trend at Arrowhead Stadium next Sunday (6:30 pm ET) against the Bills or the Ravens, who play this Sunday in Buffalo for the opportunity to dethrone the defending champions.
How was the Chiefs' victory against the resilient Texans?
Mahomes improved to 16-3 in the playoffs, tying Joe Montana for the second most wins in NFL postseason history behind Tom Brady (35), and has a record of 7-0 in the divisional round.
Andy Reid became the fourth NFL coach to reach 300 career victories.
Meanwhile, the Texans (11-8) have never won in six divisional games. They have lost twice against Kansas City.
Although it was not a brilliant game, Mahomes' magic appeared with the score 13-12 in favor of the Chiefs and 12 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, when practically falling down, he threw a 12-yard pass that found Travis Kelce wide open in the end zone.
On the Texans' side, Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud threw for 245 yards but was sacked eight times.
Houston Texans kicker Kai’imi Fairbairn missed a 55-yard field goal attempt, an extra point attempt, and had another field goal attempt blocked with 1:46 remaining, which would have kept Houston’s comeback hopes alive by making it a one-possession game.