\nVeach joked earlier this week that the Chiefs ranked among the healthiest teams all year. But like the fireworks that exploded overhead an hour before kickoff, his statement proved premature. Mahomes\u2019s ankle wasn\u2019t the only issue. His favorite target, tight end Travis Kelce, was struggling with an inflamed back. But as they left the locker room before kickoff, both were in uniform. Mahomes gave his teammates a simple and yet powerful message: \u201cIt\u2019s going to take all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\nKelce finished this season with 110 receptions, 1,338 yards and 12 touchdowns. Mahomes found him early, yet again, on the Chiefs\u2019 first offensive possession. But the quarterback\u2019s near touchdown throw to wideout Kadarius Toney came loose as he hit the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Chiefs\u2019 defense, like Mahomes\u2019s ankle, had a day. That started with stud defensive lineman Chris Jones, who dedicated his off-season to this particular game. Reid kept hearing the defensive players throughout the week; they teemed with energy, they wanted to play on Monday night, in a McDonald\u2019s parking lot, if need be. \u201cGuys were as pumped up as I\u2019ve seen \u2018em going into a football game,\u201d Mahomes said afterward.<\/p>\n\nThe energy translated, as the Chiefs chased Burrow from the pocket and wrestled him to the ground. Perhaps this owed to linebacker Willie Gay, owner of perhaps the largest portable speaker in professional sports, the one that\u2019s taller than a toddler, sits near his locker and has a strobe light. \u201cWhat can I say?\u201d he asked earlier this week. \u201cIn here, we like to thump.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThump, they did. They hit Burrow early, hit him often and hit him hard. They netted five sacks against an injury-depleted offensive line that held up well last week against Buffalo. Defensive end Frank Clark added 1.5 sacks to his career postseason total of 12, which is already tied for the fourth-most in league history. \u201cFrank has been playing out of his mind<\/em>,\u201d Jones said. All this thumping led to two interceptions and at least three other pass attempts that hit defenders in the hands.<\/p>\n\nAs the Chiefs\u2019 offense zoomed down field and the Chiefs\u2019 defense full-stopped the Bengals, the game seemed headed toward blowout city. Mahomes, on that ankle, sprinted right and stopped on a dime, throwing without his feet set, while pivoting backward, to Kelce (with that back<\/em>) in the end zone. Touchdown. Mahomes walked to the sideline and thanked his linemen. His connection with Kelce marked their 13th postseason touchdown, moving them past Joe Montana and Jerry Rice for the second-most playoff scores of all-time, only two behind Brady and Rob Gronkowski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nBut Kansas City also never fully capitalized on its statistical edge. The Chiefs stalled on their first two scoring drives, netting only six points. They called laterals that didn\u2019t work, saw Mahomes misfire an attempt that turned into a fumble and watched a 13\u20133 lead evaporate. Just like last year.<\/p>\n
In January 2022, the Chiefs jumped out to a 21\u20133 advantage, led 21\u201310 at half and were tied at 21 by the end of the third quarter. In January 2023, they jumped out to a 13\u20133 advantage, led 13\u20136 at the half and were tied 13\u201313 midway through the third. The Bengals roared back last year to win that game in overtime. Would the sequel really follow the same plot?<\/p>\n\nClark had spent all week telling younger teammates they needed to enjoy nights like this. That they were more rare than they might seem. Yes, he admitted, Burrow \u201cgot that Peyton Manning in him.\u201d But the Chiefs, he said, needed to \u201cget our laugh back.\u201d Meaning the last one.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThis time, the Chiefs regained the lead. Mahomes was limping but undeterred. On third down at the 19-yard-line, he stepped up in the pocket and threw a dart to Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the end zone that was a little late but just out of reach of a diving defender. That made it 20\u201313, Chiefs.<\/p>\n\nBurrow remained cool as ever, even on a night of perpetual harassment. He held a 5\u20131 record in the playoffs, the only loss coming last season, to the Rams in Super Bowl LVI. He played, as described earlier this week by Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, \u201cnifty\u201d and \u201clike he\u2019s got six eyeballs around his head.\u201d Burrow never panicked. Instead, on a fourth-and-6 from the Chiefs\u2019 41 he found wideout Ja\u2019Marr Chase streaking down field on a go route and threw a perfect pass between defenders. Chase had juked right, ever so slightly, to create a pinch of separation, then timed the catch with similar perfection. Two plays later, Samaje Perine pushed his way into the end zone. That made it 20\u201320, advantage nobody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nThe teams\u2019 subsequent drives came up empty\u2014there were two Chiefs punts, a Bengals punt and a Burrow arm punt (a third-and-medium bomb for Tee Higgins that was deflected and intercepted, though it still flipped the field 50 yards). Then came the scramble, the field goal and the celebration. Then: sweet, glorious revenge.<\/p>\n
Mahomes vs. Burrow is shaping up like Brady vs. Manning. But that\u2019s for another night, another season. As the song \u201cAll I Do Is Win\u201d blared over the speakers at the stadium no longer known as Burrowhead, the Chiefs ascended yet another stage and held high another trophy named after their founder. Kelce, who grew up in Ohio and played at the University of Cincinnati, grabbed the microphone and spoke indirectly to the mayor, who he told to, \u201cKnow yo role and shut yo mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nClark Hunt said it felt like the Chiefs had confronted a season\u2019s worth of adversity in the past week alone. Injuries before the game. Injuries during it. All the trash talk. \u201cEven the mayor came at me,\u201d Mahomes said.<\/p>\n
At the lectern afterward, he sighed deeply, as if relieved. He said he didn\u2019t expect to run much and ran a whole lot anyway on Sunday night. He said the ankle hurt the most on the play where he tried to pass and fumbled. He sold the same silly theme they all did: That nobody<\/em> believed in them, this team hosting its fifth consecutive AFC championship game, manned by the greatest quarterback, healthy ankle or not, on earth.<\/p>\n\nIn a little over a week, Kansas City will fly to Phoenix for the Andy Reid Bowl. This marks the coach\u2019s latest Super Bowl appearance, only this time, the game is against his former team.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe\u2019ll answer a million questions about that over the fortnight ahead. But on Sunday, all they did was celebrate (and win). Cigar smoke wafted down the corridors of the stadium the Chiefs reclaimed. Reid threw his arm around his wife, Tammy, and kissed her on the cheek. Tammy was championship-ready, clad in a fur hat, a sequin jacket and black leather pants.<\/p>\n\nGay cranked the volume on his speaker. Mahomes walked without a limp, but the ankle appeared bruised. Players clamored for the trophy, passing it around. Paul Rudd walked by and few seemed to notice. Perhaps that\u2019s because Kansas City already has an international celebrity in its locker room.<\/p>\n
Then Clark stopped him. He pulled from a cigar, then spoke. \u201cWe gotta get another one,\u201d he told the actor, and he meant another ring.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n