Getty The Patriots will face the Chiefs in the AFC Championship.
The Patriots will face the Chiefs in the AFC Championship on Sunday, January 20th. The game will kickoff at 6:40 p.m. Eastern on CBS. The winner will face the NFC champion two weeks later in the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 3rd.
The Patriots edged out the Chiefs 43-40 in their earlier matchup in October. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been complimentary of Patrick Mahomes in his first season as the Chiefs starting quarterback.
“He gets the ball to all of his receivers quick, quick release, sees things quickly, can extend plays,” Belichick said, per CBS Sports. “[He’s] got a great arm, got a fabulous arm, can throw the ball out of the stadium. He makes good decisions, accurate, gets the ball out on time.”
Mahomes was unable to mount a full comeback against the Patriots in their first go-round. After the loss, Mahomes admitted he told Tom Brady that he hoped he would see them again, and the Chiefs quarterback is going to get his wish.
“I have the ultimate respect for Tom and everything that he did this game and his whole entire career,” Mahomes told Boston.com. “He’s had success in this league because he’s won games with last-minute drives like that. For us, you just have to find a way to win games like this. If you want to get to where you want to get to, you have to win games that are going to be tight, and they’re going to be against really good opponents…I just kind of told him good luck for the rest of the season, and we’re going to go out there and hopefully we can keep playing and hopefully we might get to see him again,”