The Kansas Chiefs on Sunday coughed up an uncharacteristic four turnovers, but still beat the Miami Dolphins 33-27 to clinch their fifth straight American Football Conference West Division title.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes received a rude welcome on his first appearance at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium since he earned Most Valuable Player honors in a Super Bowl win over the San Francisco 49ers in February.
He was intercepted twice and sacked for an NFL-record 30-yard loss in the first quarter as Miami seized an early 10-0 lead, but the Chiefs scored 30 straight points to seize control and fended off the Dolphins’ fourth-quarter rally to improve to 12-1.
Photo: Jasen Vinlove-USA Today
Miami’s defeat gave the Chiefs’ main competition for the conference’s top overall seed, Pittsburgh, a boost, securing the Steelers’ first post-season berth since 2017.
However, the Steelers dropped a game behind the Chiefs when they suffered just their second defeat of their season in the late game, losing 26-15 to the Buffalo Bills.
Mahomes’ three interceptions marked his first multi-interception game in more than two years, but he threw for 393 yards and two touchdowns.
“We won the Super Bowl here and just clinched the AFC West — it seems every time we leave this stadium we have a chat about something we accomplished,” Mahomes said. “The [bad] part, it seems, is like I have half my interceptions at this stadium.”
Tyreek Hill scored on a 32-yard run and a 44-yard reception, while Travis Kelce had eight catches for 136 yards and a touchdown.
Mecole Hardman returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown and Chiefs defender Chris Jones sacked Dolphins rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for a safety.
Tagovailoa passed for 316 yards and two touchdowns to Mike Gesicki, cutting the deficit to six points with less than five minutes to play before Harrison Butker kicked a 46-yard field goal for the Chiefs with just over 1 minute remaining.
Mahomes kept that drive going with a fourth-and-one pass to Hill.
“This is an explosive team, and they went on a run there,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said. “It was a quick spurt. That’s how they’re built — they go on runs. We collected ourselves and I thought our guys did a good job of that. We played with poise and got ourselves back in the game.”
The Green Bay Packers clinched the National Football Conference North Division title with a 31-24 victory over the Detroit Lions.
Aaron Rodgers connected on three touchdown passes to three different receivers and moved into fourth place in NFL history for most games with three or more touchdown passes with 73 — passing former Packers great Brett Favre.
Rodgers also scored a rushing touchdown and the Packers defense knocked Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford out of the contest midway through the fourth quarter with a rib injury.
Davante Adams had seven catches for 115 yards and a touchdown for Green Bay — his eighth straight game with a touchdown catch.
The Packers’ win, coupled with the Detroit Lions’ 26-14 loss to the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers, saw Green Bay capture the division with three games remaining.
They are level with New Orleans for the best record in the conference after the Saints’ 24-21 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Jalen Hurts made his first start at quarterback for the Eagles and provided the spark coach Doug Pederson was looking for.
Hurts threw for a touchdown and ran for 109 yards in a victory that kept Philadelphia in the hunt in a lackluster East Division led by Washington — who beat San Francisco 23-15.
The Saints, with star quarterback Drew Brees still sidelined by rib injuries, saw a nine-game winning streak snapped and missed a chance to clinch the South Division title.
In the American Football Conference South, the Tennessee Titans tightened their hold on first place with a 31-10 victory over the Jaguars in Jacksonville.
In New York, Josh Allen passed for 238 yards and two touchdowns as the Bills handed the Steelers their second straight loss.
Allen was 24 of 43 with touchdown passes to Stephon Diggs and Gabriel Davis.
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