The Kansas City Chiefs are officially back in the AFC Championship Game – thanks to the blazing speed of receiver Tyreek Hill.
Trailing 10-0 to the Tennessee Titans late in the first quarter, the Chiefs went to their go-to misdirection sweep where QB Patrick Mahomes hands off to a cutting Hill, who hit the turbo boost and jetted to the end zone for the team’s first score on Sunday.
The 8-yard score capped a 10-play, 74-yard drive that got the Chiefs on the board and cut the Titans lead to 10-7.
For the second straight week, the Chiefs fell behind by double digits in the first half at home. The Titans got a 30-yard FG from Greg Joseph and a four-yard rushing TD from Derrick Henry to build the early lead.
How They Got Here: The Chiefs Road to the AFC Championship Game
The Chiefs followed up their magical, breakout season of 2018 with a 12-4 regular season and another AFC West title.
It looked like the Chiefs were headed towards a wild card round matchup but were rewarded a first-round bye after the Patriots were stunned by the Dolphins in the regular-season finale.
The Chiefs were punched in the mouth by the Houston Texans in the divisional round, falling behind 24-0 in the second quarter. Playing in front of a stunned home crowd at Arrowhead Stadium, Patrick Mahomes rallied the Chiefs to erase the deficit before halftime with 28-unanswered second-quarter points.
Kansas City overwhelmed the Texans in the second half and punched their ticket to the AFC title game with a 51-31 win.
Mahomes finished the game with 321 passing yards and five TD tosses, along with 53 yards rushing.
The Chiefs are looking to return to the Super Bowl for the first time in 50 years when they beat the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV.
How They Got Here: The Titans Road to the AFC Championship Game
The Tennessee Titans have been on quite the Cinderella run over the last few weeks, shaking up the NFL landscape with two major upsets that no one saw coming.
The Titans finished the regular season 9-7 and clinched a wild card berth in the final week with a 35-14 win on the road against the Houston Texans.
The gift for being the last team in – a trip to New England to face the defending NFL champion Patriots.
The Titans stunned the champs, locking down Tom Brady and the Patriots’ offense in a 20-13 win in Foxborough.
Tennessee then drew the league’s breakout star and presumptive MVP Lamar Jackson and the top-ranked Baltimore Ravens last Saturday in primetime.
It was more of the same from the previous week, with the Titans limiting the Ravens’ prolific offense to only 12 points in a shocking 28-12 win.
Titans running back Derrick Henry has carried the team on his large shoulders, becoming the first rusher in NFL history to run for 180 yards in three consecutive games, going back to the week 17 game against Houston. Henry rushed for 182 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots and then followed that up with a monster performance against the Ravens where he ran for 195 yards and even threw for a TD.
The Titans are looking to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2000 when they infamously fell one-yard short against the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV.
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