Christmas NFL games: Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs beat Steelers, lock up top seed
PITTSBURGH — Patrick Mahomes passed for 320 yards and three touchdowns and the Kansas City Chiefs locked up the top playoff seed in the AFC for the fourth time in seven seasons with a 29-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday.
The two-time defending Super Bowl champions raced to an early 13-point lead and were never really threatened by the Steelers (10-6), who have dropped three straight as their chances of capturing the AFC North took another hit.
Mahomes connected on first-half scoring tosses to Xavier Worthy and Justin Watson and Kansas City’s defense did most of the rest even with perennial All-Pro defensive end Chris Jones sitting out while nursing a calf injury. The Chiefs sacked Russell Wilson five times, forced two turnovers and hardly looked gassed while playing for the third time in 11 days.
The Chargers and Rams are on the verge of clinching playoff berths, and their respective opponents on Saturday shouldn’t get in their way too much.
Travis Kelce caught eight passes for 84 yards while becoming the third tight end in NFL history to reach 1,000 receptions, joining Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten. Kelce sealed Kansas City’s fifth straight victory with a 12-yard touchdown grab early in the fourth quarter.
The 35-year-old celebrated by dunking the ball over the goal post, which drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and groans from a capacity crowd at Acrisure Stadium that has grown used to seeing Mahomes toy with the hometown team. Mahomes is now 4-0 against the Steelers in his career, with 17 touchdowns against one interception.
Russell Wilson threw for 205 yards for Pittsburgh. George Pickens finished with three receptions for 50 yards after missing three games with a hamstring injury. It wasn’t nearly enough for the Steelers, who went 0-3 during a brutal three-game stretch against Super Bowl contenders Philadelphia, Baltimore and Kansas City.
Perhaps more troubling than the losses is the way they played out. The Steelers lost each game at least 14 points and could start the playoffs on the road after playing fast-and-loose with the two-game division lead they had just three weeks ago.
Baltimore Ravens 31, Houston Texans 2
HOUSTON — Lamar Jackson broke the NFL career rushing record for quarterbacks in Baltimore’s victory, bolstering his case for MVP as the Ravens moved closer to the AFC North title.
Jackson threw for 168 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 87 yards and another score. He pushed his career rushing total to 6,110 to move past Michael Vick, who had 6,109 in his 13-year career.
The Ravens (11-5) have already wrapped up their third straight playoff berth and need a victory over Cleveland next week to win the division over Pittsburgh.
Jackson, the MVP last season and in 2019, put on a show rivaled only by the spectacular Super Bowl-caliber halftime performance by Beyoncé to give Baltimore its third straight win. And he needed just more than three quarters to do it, giving way to Josh Johnson with about 10 minutes left and the game long decided.
Jackson threw nine- and one-yard TD passes and was not touched on a 48-yard scoring scamper that made it 24-2 in the third quarter.
Derrick Henry ran for 147 yards and set the Ravens season record with his 16th touchdown on a two-yard run in the first quarter. He eclipsed Ray Rice (2011) and Mark Ingram (2019).
Baltimore dominated a Houston team reeling after losing dynamic receiver Tank Dell to a season-ending knee injury Saturday.
The AFC South champs struggled to finish drives and got their only points on a safety in the second quarter. C.J. Stroud threw for 185 yards, but was sacked five times and threw an interception and Joe Mixon managed just 26 yards rushing as the Texans (9-7) lost a second straight.
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