Patrick Mahomes has never lost in the divisional round of the playoffs with the Kansas City Chiefs.
On the other hand, the Houston Texans still have never won in this round.
With Mahomes connecting with his favorite target, Travis Kelce, seven times for 117 yards and a touchdown, and the Chiefs’ defense sacking Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud eight times, Kansas City claimed a 23-14 win on Saturday. This victory sent the Chiefs to the AFC title game for the seventh consecutive year.
The Chiefs are now the fourth team in NFL history to reach the conference title game after winning back-to-back Super Bowls. The other three teams that did this all lost in the AFC or NFC title game. The Chiefs now hope to break that trend as they prepare to play either the Bills or Ravens in Arrowhead Stadium next weekend.
“It’s been a special run,” Mahomes said, noting how his wife, Brittany, had just given birth to their third child last Sunday. “I still remember moments from the World Series my dad played when I was 5 years old. These are the moments that I’ll cherish my entire life.”
However, Mahomes and the Chiefs are not done yet. They continue to chase a third consecutive Lombardi Trophy, something no team has ever done. Mahomes, who threw for 177 yards and a touchdown in this game, improved his playoff record to 16-3, tying Joe Montana for the second-most postseason wins by a starting quarterback in NFL history. Only Tom Brady has more playoff victories.
Mahomes, Kelce, and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid also helped Reid become just the fourth coach in NFL history to reach 300 career wins.
“I joked to the guys, you know, you get a couple of more and you might be able to equal my weight,” Reid said, keeping the mood light.
While the Chiefs celebrated in their locker room, the Texans were left disappointed. They still haven’t won a divisional round game in six attempts, having lost twice to Kansas City in heartbreaking fashion.
Stroud threw for 245 yards but was sacked eight times. Running back Joe Mixon, who had been dealing with an ankle injury, ran for 88 yards and scored their only touchdown.
The Texans’ kicker, Ka’imi Fairbairn, missed a 55-yard field goal attempt, an extra point, and had another field goal blocked late in the game when Houston still had a chance to make it a one-possession game.
“Knowing what we were up against in this game, we can’t make the mistakes that we made,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We had a lot of self-inflicted mistakes that happened, whether it was special teams not converting, defensively not being where we’re supposed to be in coverage, offensively not protecting our quarterback and keeping him clean.”
Ryans added, “On top of everything else we have to deal with, that’s going to be an uphill battle.”
From the start, the Texans’ special teams struggled. They nearly allowed a kick return touchdown, and Houston cornerback Kris Boyd almost shoved his own assistant coach during the bizarre play.
Despite this, the Texans’ defense held Kansas City to just two field goals early on. But the Chiefs broke through at the end of the first half when running back Kareem Hunt scored a touchdown to give Kansas City a 13-3 lead.
Houston managed to make a 48-yard field goal in the windy conditions to stay within 13-6 at halftime, and that kick seemed to spark the Texans in the second half.
Stroud led a 15-play, 82-yard drive that took up most of the third quarter, including several third-down conversions. Mixon capped off the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run. However, Fairbairn missed the extra point, keeping Houston behind by one point.
That missed extra point seemed to turn the momentum in Kansas City’s favor. The Chiefs responded with an 81-yard drive, with Mahomes completing four passes to Kelce, including an 11-yard touchdown pass as Mahomes was dragged to the ground.
The Texans had a couple of chances to tie the game, but their first drive ended when Stroud was sacked by George Karlaftis on fourth down. The second attempt faltered with back-to-back incompletions from Stroud, forcing Houston to punt.
Kansas City then added a field goal with 4:32 left, making it a two-possession game and sealing the victory.
“We’re fortunate we’ve got a lot of great character guys in the building,” Kelce said. “On top of that, as the years have gone on, we only got here by focusing on the task at hand. And right now, this one was great. We’re going to enjoy this one tonight. But the task at hand is going to be that AFC championship.”
Kelce added, “You don’t get a three-peat by looking past that.”
