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Bengals 6 – Chiefs 13 (3e quart) – Patrick Mahomes came close to joining Kadarius Toney for a long aerial touchdown on the Chiefs’ first offensive possession. Toney fumbled the ball in the end zone, however, and kicker Harrison Butker then successfully performed for 43 yards.
From the Chiefs’ next offensive sequence, running back Isiah Pachecho believed he had given his club a ten-point lead by running the nine yards separating him from the end zone.
A penalty imposed on Andrew Wylie for holding, however, dampened the heat of the fans at Arrowhead Stadium, and Butker came on for a short kick, making it 6-0.
Victim of two quarterback sacks in the first fifteen minutes of the game, Joe Burrow had an inspiring first offensive streak early in the second quarter.
The Bengals’ quest for the first touchdown of the night ended at the 12 line, however, when the young quarterback’s attempt at tight end Hayden Hurst was blocked.
Thus, Cincinnati found itself in turn having to settle for a precision kick, managed by Evan McPherson.
Mahomes continued to manhandle the Bengals secondary in her third appearance on the field. This time, the star quarterback for the Chiefs made his rivals pay with a risky gamble that paid off. On a fourth down and one yard to go, Mahomes joined his favorite target, tight end Travis Kelce, on 14 yards for the game’s first major.
Kelce now ranks second in NFL history for receiving yards (1,444) in playoff games. He allowed himself to steal the second position from the former New England Patriots, Julian Edelman.
Burrow had another encouraging streak before halftime, during the two-minute offense, but once again the Kansas City defense got up to stop a passing touchdown.
McPherson was therefore put to use a second time, and the latter allowed the finalists of the last Super Bowl to retire to the locker room with a decline of seven points (13 to 6).
Pre-game notes
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has been declared active ahead of Sunday night’s AFC Finals against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Kelce had experienced back spasms during a training session, and he was a questionable case for the game.
Kelce caught a career-high 110 passes for 1,338 yards and 12 touchdowns during the regular season.
Then, in a 27-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in a second-round playoff game, Kelce had 14 catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns.
Kelce started stretching about two hours before the opening kickoff. After making mock runs, Kelce lightly bumped his point into trainer Rick Burkholder’s, before going to join the other pass receivers for the rest of the warm-up.
Meanwhile, quarterback Patrick Mahomes had no trouble moving on his injured right ankle on a very cold and windy night at Arrowhead Stadium.
Mahomes was injured during the first quarter of the game against the Jaguars, but returned after halftime to wrap up the game. He participated in all training sessions this week.