Patrick Mahomes suffered an ankle injury near the end of the first quarter that clearly bothered him all game. The injury would cause Mahomes to miss one drive.
The Chiefs athletic training staff would put on an ankle spat. An ankle spat is created with athletic tape over the sock and cleat to limit range of motion and add support.
Mahomes would come back into the game partially due to his commitment to his teammates and love for football.
“I’m not coming out of a playoff game unless they take me out,” Mahomes said, “I love this game, I love playing with my teammates and being able to go out there and enjoy it together.”
Backup quarterback Chad Henne would come in for a pivotal moment in the game. When Henne came in the Chiefs were up by three and had lost the field position battle by getting pinned on the two yards line. Henne would drive the team 98 yards down the field and cap off the drive with a one-yard touchdown pass to Travis Kelce.
That was Kelce’s second receiving touchdown on the day giving him 14 receiving touchdowns in his playoff career. That is the second most all-time for tight ends, putting him one behind Rob Gronkowski.
Travis Kelce was a big reason why the Chiefs took a 17-10 lead over Jacksonville, to end the first half. His 10 catches in the first half tied is an NFL record for the most receptions in a first half of a playoff game since 1991.
Andy Reid would sum up Kelce’s game by saying.
“Every time I stand up here Kelce breaks another record,” Reid said.
Henne was not the only hero of the drive. The drive was assisted by rookie running back Isiah Pacheco who contributed 52 yards on the ground including a 39 yard run. Henne’s drive was the longest drive in Chief’s playoff history.
Andy Reid Specifically called out the game that Pacheco had.
“I thought he did a tremendous job running the ball,” Reid said.
The defense was able to step up and have a couple of essential turnovers in the second half of the game.
On first and goal, from the six-yard line, the Jags were running a no huddle offense. Trevor Lawrence threw a short three yard ball to Wide receiver Jamal Agnew who fumbled the ball trying to create a run catch. Nick Bolton was able to scoop the ball up and prevent the Jags from closing the gap. Even though the Chiefs would end up punting on their next drive, this stop ran off important time off the clock.
The Chiefs would go three and out and punt the ball back to Lawrence and the Jag’s offense. With the second play, on that drive, Jaylen Watson had the defensive play of the game. On second and six with 3:55 left in the fourth quarter wide receiver, Zay Jones was running a fade route. The Chiefs were playing a combination of the cover-two zone over the middle and man coverage on the outside wide receivers.
Lawerence attempted to throw a back shoulder pass to Jones. However, Watson had a different plan. Due to pressure put on by Chiefs safety Justin Reid, Lawrence was rushed to make the pass and Watson put his arm up to make a spectacular one handed interception.
This was a total team win for the Chiefs. Harrison Butker would kick two 50 yard field goals and make all three of his PATs.
The victory gave Andy Reid his twentieth playoff victory tying him with Tom Landy. This is the second most playoff victories of all time. Both Reid and the Chiefs continue their historic run and look to next week for their next opponent.
The only injuries were Mahomes (ankle) and L‘Jarius Sneed (nose). Both players would come back into the game.
