Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce connected on a fourth-quarter touchdown pass while Harrison Butker booted three field goals Saturday as the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs subdued the visiting Houston Texans 23-14.
Kansas City, which secured home-field advantage throughout the AFC with its 15-2 mark in the regular season, will welcome either Baltimore or Buffalo. Those teams meet Sunday night in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Jan. 26 for a trip to the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Houston bowed out in the divisional round for the second straight season.
The Chiefs led just 13-12 when Mahomes, who was falling down as he threw the ball, found Kelce in the middle of the end zone for an 11-yard scoring strike with 11:52 remaining. It was the highlight of an efficient performance for Mahomes, who hit 16 of 25 passes for 177 yards.
“The goal is just to continue to move on in the playoffs,” Mahomes said. “That was a good team football win.”
Kelce caught seven passes for 117 yards in the latest clutch performance for one of the sport’s most decorated playoff performers during Kansas City’s run of three Super Bowls in the last five seasons.
“You know (Kelce) is going to show up whenever there’s a big-time moment, and he did that,” Mahomes said. “Everybody was asking, ‘Where’s Travis Kelce at (this season)?’ I think he showed the world where he’s at.”
Butker added the team’s last points on a 27-yard field goal with 4:38 left. The Texans tacked on a safety when Kansas City punter Matt Araiza ran out of the end zone with 11 seconds to play.
C.J. Stroud connected on 19 of 28 pass attempts for 245 yards for the Texans, but their only touchdown was Joe Mixon’s 13-yard run with 4:36 left in the third quarter, capping a drive of 10:24.
Stroud took a beating, absorbing eight sacks, including three by George Karlaftis, and left late in the fourth quarter with an apparent leg injury. The eight sacks were one shy of an NFL postseason record.
Mixon rushed for a game-high 88 yards on 18 carries, helping Houston outgain the Chiefs 336-212. But a bevy of mistakes, which included eight penalties for 82 yards, ruined its chances of an upset.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans took a postgame swipe at referee Clay Martin and his officiating crew.
“We knew coming into today it was going to be us against everybody,” Ryans said.
Playing their key players for the first time since a Week 17 win at Pittsburgh, Kansas City scored three of the first four times it touched the ball. The Texans trailed 13-6 at halftime despite picking up 51 more total yards than the Chiefs.
Butker connected on 32 and 36-yard field goals to cap the Chiefs’ first two possessions, while Houston countered via Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 30-yard field goal on its first drive. That made it 6-3 Kansas City going to the second quarter.
Mahomes found Kelce open over the middle for a 49-yard gain on which he broke two weak tackle attempts to set up the half’s lone touchdown. Kareem Hunt scored on a high-stepping 1-yard run with 4:36 left before halftime.
Fairbairn got points on the board again with 16 seconds remaining, booming a 48-yard field goal. He also missed two field goals, including one that was blocked by Kansas City’s Leo Chenal with 1:46 left, and missed the extra point following Mixon’s touchdown to keep the Chiefs ahead at 13-12.
Andy Reid of the Chiefs became the fourth coach to accumulate 300 wins, including the postseason. The others are Don Shula (347), Bill Belichick (333) and George Halas (324).
“I know that means a lot to him,” Mahomes said of Reid. “Three hundred wins is crazy. But I think he’s trying to get to 302 at the end of this year.”
–Field Level Media
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