Having secured the AFC’s No. 1 seed and lone first-round bye after a convincing 29-10 win over the Steelers, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes can now rest his sprained ankle for three weeks. He has more important things on his mind, however.
“I thought it was a full-team performance,” Mahomes told Stacey Dales on the Netflix broadcast after the game. “Defense stepped up, offense stepped up, everybody had their imprint on the game. And I told my wife, my pregnant wife, I was getting her the No. 1 seed, so we could go have that baby. So, we got that 1 seed.”
Mahomes revealed earlier in a prerecorded Netflix interview aired during the streaming giant’s first NFL game that his wife, Brittany, is due with the couple’s third child any day. Mahomes, who finished 29 of 38 for 320 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, may sit out the regular-season finale next week at Denver. As the AFC’s top team, Kansas City will host the lowest-remaining seed in the playoffs the third weekend of January.
It’s a remarkable rebound for Mahomes, who had eight interceptions and only six touchdown passes through the Chiefs’ first six games. The quarterback kept his team afloat as Kansas City endured a porous offensive line and injuries to several wide receivers.
As a result, the Chiefs (15-1) earned a franchise-record 15th win, joining the 2011 Green Bay Packers (15-1) as the second reigning Super Bowl winners to notch 15 victories. What’s more, among the nine teams to register consecutive Super Bowl wins, the Chiefs joined the 1990 San Francisco 49ers as the only member of that group to reach the No. 1 seed in an attempt to win three straight Super Bowls – something no team has ever done.
While the Chiefs are peaking at the right time, the Steelers (10-6) have lost three straight games to fall out of first place in the AFC North. Down 22-10 against the Chiefs early in the fourth quarter, Pittsburgh was desperate for momentum when Trent McDuffie forced and recovered a Pat Freiermuth fumble. McDuffie, who has two interceptions and a fumble recovery over his last three games, set up Mahomes’ 12-yard touchdown pass to Travis Kelce that put the game away.
That pass also made Kelce the franchise’s all-time leader with 77 touchdown receptions, surpassing Tony Gonzalez (76). Kelce drew a penalty flag by honoring Gonzalez with the Hall of Famer’s signature touchdown celebration, dunking the ball over the crossbar of the goalpost. NFL rules restrict players from using the football as a prop during celebrations, other than a traditional spike.
Playing without defensive leader Chris Jones, inactive with calf strain, Kansas City held the Steelers to just one touchdown in four red-zone possessions, one that ended when Justin Reid intercepted Russell Wilson in the end zone.
Pittsburgh, already guaranteed at least the No. 7 seed in the playoffs, closes the season at home against Cincinnati next week.
For more information on the Chiefs and Steelers, visit the Kansas City and Pittsburgh team pages at ProFootballPost.com.
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