WHAT. A. GAME! The Kansas City Chiefs finally got their revenge against the Cincinnati Bengals as Patrick Mahomes performed his magic once again to send his Chiefs to their third Super Bowl in five years.
There can be no doubt now: Patrick Mahomes is the very best quarterback in the NFL.
To do what he did with a bad ankle, which was painfully obvious from the first KC drive of the game and prove all of his doubters wrong by finally getting his first victory over Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals was simply awe-inspiring. You just can’t write Mahomes out of any game. Ever!
Like I said, coming into the game, almost everyone in the media was ready to crown Joe Burrow and his Bengals as the class of the AFC and the next dynasty in waiting to succeed the New England Patriots, even though the Chiefs were at home and Mahomes was playing despite his injury. Obviously, that is just easy bulletin board material for a championship-caliber team like the Chiefs.
I said in my preview of this game that all of the trash talking and boasting the Bengals players were doing, such as calling Arrowhead “Burrowhead” and saying that they were the “Top Dogs” in the AFC, was going to come back to bite them if they didn’t back it up on the field. And, boy, did it really hurt them.
Patrick Mahomes was simply sensational as he completed 29/43 passes for 326 yards and 2 TDs as he was the entire Kansas City offense last night.
Despite the high ankle sprain, Mahomes was still able to sling the ball out to Travis Kelce (7 REC, 78 yards, 1 TD), Marquez Vandling-Scanting (6 REC, 116 yards, 1 TD), and Isiah Pacheco (5 REC, 59 yards), which is rather impressive as he was also down his three best receivers in JuJu Smith-Schuster (1 REC, 7 yards), Kardarius Toney (1 REC, 9 yards), and Mecole Hardman (2 REC , 10 yards) after they went down early with injuries.
Though, what makes this performance even more impressive is the fact that the Bengals defense was able to get to Mahomes on a regular basis. Led by Sam Hubbard (2 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit), Vonn Bell (7 tackles), Cam Sample (2 tackles, 1 sack 1 TFL, 1 QB hit), Mike Hilton (5 tackles), Logan Wilson (6 tackles), and Trey Hendrickson (2 tackles), the Bengals defense racked up 72 tackles, 3 sacks, 4 TFL, 2 PD, 5 QB hits, 2 FF, and 1 FR.
The Bengals had a great gameplan for Mahomes and the Chiefs offense that nearly worked to perfection…but more on that later.
Simply put, Mahomes proved why he is and has always been the best quarterback in the NFL through his uncanny perception and athleticism that very few quarterbacks in league history have ever possessed.
Of course, that’s not to say that Joe Burrow had a horrid performance as he did not with his 26/41 completions for 270 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs, while he was also equally pressured on every play.
Chris Jones (4 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 TFL, 5 QB hits), George Karlafitis (1 tackle, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit), Justin Reid (7 tackles, 1 PD), Jaylen Watson (4 tackles, 2 PD, 1 INT), Frank Clark (3 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 TFL, 3 QB hits), Joshua Williams (5 tackles, 1 PD, 1 INT), and the rest of that Chiefs defense coached by Steve Spagnuolo made it their priority to hammer Burrow on each and every down, hoping it would lead to him making forced errors and poor throws.
And it worked as Burrow was sacked 5 times, 7 of his passes were deflected/defended by the defense, he was hit 12 times, he was picked off twice, and never got on the same page with Jamar Chase (6 REC, 75 yards).
Plus, with the Bengals running game finishing with just 71 yards with Burrow the leading rusher at 30 yards, the Chiefs defense obviously implemented a gameplan that forced Joe Burrow to have to think, process, and throw in a 2 second span in order to win the game.
Normally, that’s something Burrow has been able to do in the past, but not last night as he failed to convert a key 3rd and 8 with under 50 seconds left in the 4th Quarter with the game tied at 20, allowing Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to get the ball back with one last chance to break the tie.
And that’s exactly what Mahomes did after a monster punt return from Skyy Moore as he completed a 6-yard pass to Pacheco and then ran for the first down…which was turned into an additional 15-yard gain through Joseph Ossai’s (5 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PD, 2 QB hits) boneheaded decision to shove Mahomes into next week as he was running out of bounds.
So, with the ensuing field goal attempt for Harrison Buckner being moved from a 60 yarder to only a 45 yarder, the reliable kicker smashed the ball right through the goal posts to send the Chiefs, Arrowhead, the fans, and the entire city of Kansas City into pandemonium as they clinched their 3rd Lamar Hunt (the very man who is the late father to current Chiefs owner Clark Hunt) trophy and Super Bowl spot in the last 5 seasons.
I don’t know how to say anything else about these two great teams and quarterbacks. The AFC is going to be contested by Burrow’s Bengals and Mahomes’ Chiefs for the next 10-15 years to come, ensuring the future of the AFC and the NFL is in safe, stable hands.
Congratulations, Chiefs, you have more than earned this fantastic achievement.
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