Mahomes helps Chiefs to halftime lead over Bills in AFC Championship
Published
Patrick Mahomes has thrown for a touchdown and ran for another to help the Kansas City Chiefs to a 21-16 lead over the Buffalo Bills at halftime of the AFC Championship.
Mahomes connected with receiver Xavier Worthy on an 11-yard score with 4:17 remaining in the second quarter, before adding a two-yard rushing touchdown inside the two minute warning to go up 21-10 at the time.
Mahomes completed 10-of-13 passing attempts for 132 yards, while running five times for an additional 18 yards.
Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt opened the scoring on his team’s opening drive of the game, rushing for a 12-yard touchdown to go up 7-0 in the early stages of the first quarter.
Hunt finished the first half with eight carries for 41 yards and a score.
The Bills would respond by a way of a Tyler Bass field goal from 53 yards out to bring the score to 7-3. With the kick, Bass set the record for the longest field goal made at Arrowhead in postseason.
On the ensuing drive, the Chiefs turned the ball over on a rare mistake from Mahomes, who lost the ball while attempting a fake handoff to Isiah Pacheco. It was Kansas City’s first turnover in 501 offensive snaps since the last time the teams faced off on Nov. 17.
The Bills would take advantage of the mistake, with James Cook rushing for a six-yard touchdown to take a 10-7 lead. Cook carried the ball just four times in the first half, rushing for 23 yards.
After Mahomes and the Chiefs scored 14 unanswered points, Josh Allen and the Bills came down the field and responded with a long 34-yard touchdown to Mack Hollins, bringing the score to 21-16 with just seconds remaining in the half.
Allen completed 13-of-20 attempts for 150 yards and a touchdown.
Buffalo will be without cornerback Christian Benford for the rest of the game after he was ruled out of the contest in the second quarter with a concussion.
Benford and teammate Damar Hamlin were involved in a helmet-to-helmet collision while the pair were attempting to tackle Chiefs speedster Xavier Worthy.
The Chiefs will receive the ball to begin the third quarter after electing to defer on the opening kick-off.
Tonight’s winner will set a date with the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9 from New Orleans.