Mahomes lead Chiefs previous Steelers to AFC’s No. 1 seed – Orlando Sentinel

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By WILL GRAVES AP Sports activities Author

PITTSBURGH — Andy Reid donned a Santa Claus swimsuit in a giddy Kansas Metropolis Chiefs locker room on Christmas Day, then handed his workforce a gift it more and more seems prefer it deserves: home-field benefit all through the AFC playoffs.

How Reid managed to slip into the costume so rapidly after Kansas Metropolis’s scientific 29-10 victory over the reeling Pittsburgh Steelers to lock up the highest seed within the AFC for the fourth time in seven years is a thriller (although he hinted there’s an elf concerned).

How Reid’s workforce manages to tug away from the pack yr after yr shouldn’t be.

Numerous Patrick Mahomes. A touch of Travis Kelce. A splash of velocity. A protection that quietly goes about its enterprise, even when its chief is standing on the sideline in sweatpants.

Sure, it has been ugly — by Kansas Metropolis’s lofty requirements — at instances whereas the Chiefs have chased a 3rd straight championship. But because the playoffs loom, the group that appeared so susceptible for a lot of the season immediately appears to be rounding into kind.

And the highway to the Tremendous Bowl will as soon as once more undergo Arrowhead Stadium. Simply the best way the Chiefs prefer it.

“Getting the No. 1 seed is essential,” Mahomes stated after throwing for 320 yards and three touchdowns. “It’s like profitable a playoff sport.”

Even when how the Chiefs locked it up didn’t precisely really feel like one.

Kansas Metropolis (15-1) spent three hours toying with the Steelers (10-6) like a cat batting round shreds of leftover wrapping paper. The Chiefs raced to an early 13-point lead and have been by no means actually threatened by Pittsburgh, which has dropped three straight to see its probabilities of capturing the AFC North take one other hit.

“That sucked, to be blunt,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin stated.

It typically does when Pittsburgh is on one aspect of the road of scrimmage and Mahomes is on the opposite. Mahomes is now 4-0 towards the Steelers with 17 touchdowns towards only one interception. He related on first-half scoring tosses to Xavier Worthy and Justin Watson and added a history-making 12-yard landing flip to Kelce to seal it within the fourth quarter.

The seize was the 77th scoring reception of Kelce’s profession, breaking a franchise document set by Corridor of Famer Tony Gonzalez. The 35-year-old Kelce celebrated by dunking the ball over the objective publish, a nod to Gonzalez’s signature transfer. The gesture drew a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, although it hardly mattered. Harrison Butker made the longer further level and the Chiefs have been firmly in management.

“It’s simply displaying Tony some love,” Kelce stated with amusing on the day he joined Gonzalez and Jason Witten as the one tight ends to succeed in 1,000 receptions. Kelce completed with eight catches for 84 yards whereas enjoying for an offense that’s beginning to get its swagger again.

The protection wasn’t unhealthy both, even with five-time Professional Bowl defensive finish Chris Jones sidelined by a calf harm. Jones’ teammates hardly appeared gassed whereas enjoying for the third time in 11 days.

“It was powerful,” cornerback Trent McDuffie stated. “I imply, three video games in 11 days is loopy for anyone. However I assumed we dealt with it very properly.”

The Steelers didn’t. Pittsburgh went 0-3 through the span, a brutal stretch towards Tremendous Bowl contenders Philadelphia, Baltimore and Kansas Metropolis by which the Steelers appeared outclassed.

Maybe extra troubling than the losses is the best way they performed out. Pittsburgh misplaced every contest by at the very least 14 factors and will discover itself beginning the postseason on the highway after enjoying fast-and-loose with the two-game division lead it loved simply three weeks in the past.

“I believe that there’s highs and lows in each season,” Pittsburgh quarterback Russell Wilson stated after throwing for 205 yards with an ill-timed decide ultimately zone within the first quarter. “We’ve acquired to be sure that we finish this final sport on the precise footing and proper perception.”

That hasn’t been a difficulty in years in Kansas Metropolis. Not with Mahomes on the controls. He unfold his 29 completions to eight completely different gamers, together with a career-best eight to Worthy and 4 to Hollywood Brown, whose return from harm has given the Chiefs one other playmaker in what’s beginning to appear like one other stacked deck.

“We’re enjoying, particularly offensively, our greatest soccer of the yr,” Mahomes stated.

Appears to be like prefer it. The 2-time MVP hardly bothered by the ankle harm he suffered towards Cleveland, throwing touchdowns to cap Kansas Metropolis’s first two drives. And whereas the Steelers drew inside 13-7 and 16-10, they by no means had the ball with an opportunity to take the lead within the second half.

As an alternative, the Chiefs — who spent a lot of the first three months of the season squeaking by most weeks — zoomed away with the No. 1 seed and several other weeks to relaxation earlier than a bid for a three-peat that definitely seems doable.

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