Proving me wrong, coach Andy Reid’s Chiefs earned their fourth Super Bowl berth in five years Sunday with a crisp 17-10 victory over the favored Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game.
The Chiefs showed once again they can raise their performance level when the stakes go up.
Patrick Mahomes was nearly perfect, as was Travis Kelce.
No shocker there.
But instead of getting an expected good game from its defense, Kansas City got dominance.
Steve Spagnuolo’s unit allowed only three points over the final three quarters against a Ravens crew that averaged 28.4 points over 18 games.
Chiefs defenders created confusion, hit hard, tackled well, stole the ball twice in the red zone and blitzed Lamar Jackson far more often than he said he expected, to good effect.
“It never gets old,” Chiefs All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones, a mainstay to Reid’s AFC dynasty, told CBS.
A 5-point underdog unfazed by one of the league’s noisier crowds — 120 decibels, rivaling a jet engine — the Chiefs outsmarted, outmuscled and outplayed the AFC’s top seed and never trailed.
“That’s a great team in every single aspect,” Mahomes told the NFL Network, referring to the Ravens (14-5). “But our guys stepped up to the challenge.”
It was Mahomes’ best playoff performance of several gems, given the challenges posed by a top-ranked defense, the crowd and depth limitations of K.C.’s skill group.
Reading the Ravens’ multiple attack that had confused many QBs, Mahomes defeated blitzes and both man coverage and zone coverage.
He completed his first 11 es and finished 30 for 39, a 77-percent completion rate. He made several perfect touch throws, some on the move.
He ran for key gains. He almost never made the wrong decision, both within structure and on ad-lib plays.
Kelce’s heavy workload in recent years and his age probably reduced the All-Pro tight end for parts of the past season.
But with a Super Bowl berth on the line, Kelce dismantled the Ravens.
He caught all 11 targets for 116 yards.
The Ravens can attest: it was moronic of critics to suggest Kelce’s romance with pop star Taylor Swift had distracted the Chiefs’ star.
Over and over, he burned the Ravens for allowing him free releases. Scoring the game’s first touchdown, he beat safety Kyle Hamilton on a fade route. The play recalled Kelce’s clutch TD reception 11 months ago against an Eagles safety. That one launched the Chiefs’ second Super Bowl victory of this era.
“I knew he was going to show up, he always does,” Mahomes said. “When the lights get brighter he plays better.”
Getting a winning first half from their offensive line as well, the Chiefs outgained the Ravens 221-110 en route to a 17-7 lead that gave Spagnuolo’s D a two-score cushion.
Reid showed faith in the Chiefs’ defense by choosing to kick off to start the game, a rarity for him.
Spagnuolo’s unit reciprocated by forcing a three-and-out. Despite a 66-yard punt, Mahomes and Co. turned that chance into an 86-yard scoring drive featuring a run- balance.
Jackson answered with two big plays, but after that rebuttal tied the game, Chiefs defenders exposed the Ravens as incapable against their varied blitzes.
Baltimore never established an intermediate ing game.
Jackson, who was new to the AFC championship, turned in a mediocre performance, at best.
A surprise was that coach John Harbaugh’s Ravens made several dumb plays.
Veteran linebacker Kyle Van Noy allowed Kelce to bait him into head-butting him near an official, a critical 15-yard blunder that dug the Chiefs out of a hole late in the first half.
Veteran edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney prompted another 15-yard whistle by ramming into Mahomes’ face-mask with a helmet-first blow.
Easy calls for the zebras, both times.
Making it three such blunders, rookie Zay Flowers shoved a defender who’d just tackled him after a long reception, stood over him and spun the football.
Compounding that 15-yard taunting violation, Flowers fumbled near the goal line.
Cornerback L’Jarius Snead dislodged the ball as Flowers began to extend it toward the goal line, and cornerback Trent McDuffie recovered it.
If Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers were to goof as often against the Chiefs as older brother John’s Ravens did Sunday, they won’t end Kansas City’s eight-year grip on the AFC West.
I doubt the moment was too big for the Ravens.
More likely, the Chiefs took them out of their game. There’s a difference.
It began with Reid, who counts John Harbaugh among his former assistants. He’s the playcaller for an offense that began with two TD drives.
It extended to Spagnuolo, who has won three Super Bowls, the first with the Giants.
Mahomes and Kelce showed why they were already all-time greats.
The AFC still belongs to the Chiefs. They reminded dummies like me how good they are in the clutch. Going into the Super Bowl — Feb. 11 in Las Vegas — they’ll stand 14-3 (.824) in postseason games with Mahomes.
