By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The Kansas City Chiefs delivered a present to all of Chiefs Kingdom on Christmas day, bringing a first round bye and home field advantage through the playoffs home after defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-10 at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.
The Chiefs jumped out to a 13-0 lead through the first quarter, quarterback Patrick Mahomes connecting with rookie Xavier Worthy for a seven yard touchdown pass on Kansas City’s first offensive drive, then one drive later finding Justin Watson with an 11 yard strike to extend the lead.
Going into halftime however, the Chiefs lead was just one score, the Steelers scoring the lone touchdown of the second quarter driving down the field in 11 plays before quarterback Russell Wilson rushed for a one yard score, both teams going to the locker rooms with Kanas City leading 13-7.
The Chiefs and Steelers exchanged field goals in the third quarter, a 32 yard field goal by Harrison Butker and a 36 yard field goal from Chris Boswell, before Kansas City began to run away with the game in the fourth quarter, first getting a two yard rushing touchdown by Kareem Hunt.
Following the touchdown by Hunt, the Chiefs defense forced a fumble by Steelers tight end Pat Friermuth, setting up a drive that made Chiefs history, Mahomes delivering what would ultimately be the touchdown to put the game away, finding tight end Travis Kelce for a 12 yard touchdown pass, the score making Kelce the player with the most receiving touchdowns in history for Kansas City, passing legendary tight end Tony Gonzalez
HOLIDAY TOUCHDOWN FOR TRAVIS‼️ pic.twitter.com/sqgtsd0r1K
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 25, 2024
Kelce did receive an unsportsmanlike penalty following the touchdown, doing his best impression of Gonzalez and dunking the ball over the goalpost, forcing Butker into his second 48 yard extra point of the day, the first coming following the Worthy touchdown, but after missing the first, Butker knocked through the second for the 29-10 lead.
Kelce said following the game it was showing Gonzalez some love and called it a tribute to who he was for the Chiefs and who he’s been for football overall.
“We know how iconic it was that he would dunk the ball over the goalpost all the time, I gave it my best effort, I don’t know if I did it quite like him but i gave it a run,” Kelce told reporters during the postgame press conference.
The Chiefs offense seems to be turning it on at the right time ahead of the playoffs, putting together one of their best performances of the season. Mahomes was 29 of 38 passing for 320 yards with three touchdowns. Hunt rushed nine times for 20 yards and one touchdown, while Isiah Pacheco rushed six times for 18 yards.
Kelce (eight catches, 84 yards, one touchdown) and Worthy (eight catches, 79 yards, one touchdown) were the leading receivers. The Chiefs defense recorded three takeaways, with fumbles being recovered by Deon Bush and Nick Bolton, and an interception in the endzone by Justin Reid.
Kansas City is now 14-1 on the season, and is still one of only four teams in the NFL to not score 30 or more points. They will wrap up the season next week on Sunday against the Denver Broncos on the road, kickoff time has yet to be determined.
With the playoffs on the horizon, and a first round bye clinched, there is a likely chance head coach Andy Reid will rest his starters in the AFC West clash, getting them rested for the playoffs following a rough stretch of three games in 11 days.
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