On a Saturday afternoon where a snowstorm blanketed Arrowhead Stadium, the Kansas City Chiefs were able to overcome the elements to achieve a dominating 31-13 win over the Indianapolis Colts. The victory was an all-around team effort leading them to their first home playoff win in 25 years and solidifying homefield advantage for the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game for the first time in team history.
“We played a great team football game,” said Patrick Mahomes. “There was a lot of excitement here. The fans were awesome. Defense played amazing and the offense did enough to get the win in the end.”
As great as Kansas City has been all year, there were a few relevant questions leading up to the Divisional Round:
1) Is Patrick Mahomes the key to better playoff luck for the Chiefs?
2) Will the Chiefs make it past the Colts who held a 4-0 record against them in the playoffs?
3) Can the Chiefs hold on to a big lead?
The answer to all those questions turned out to be a resounding YES. It was all Chiefs from start to finish. They came out swinging and never let up which is what they needed to do in order to slow down a hot Colts team that won 10 of its last 11 games. The Colts were cooled off fairly quickly as nothing went right for them at all.
The Chiefs first possession resulted in a 75-yard drive that ended with Damien Williams touchdown putting them up 7-0. They went on to rack up two more touchdowns and a field-goal before halftime. The Chiefs saw success through the air and on the ground. Also, a little bit of everyone contributed to their impressive offensive performance to include running back Damien Williams, wide receiver Tyreek Hill, and tight end Travis Kelce. Williams finished with 25 carries for 125 yards. Mahomes completed 27 of 40 passes for 278 yards.
.@tkelce sounds off! ????#ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/6Bc6Sdb8yf
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 13, 2019
Another question mark for the Chiefs was around their defense. They’ve been inconsistent throughout the season but notably better at home. Today they put on one of their best performances of the year. They shutout the Colts offense for almost the entire game and held them to no first downs for most of the first half. The Colts didn’t score on offense until the final five minutes of the 4thquarter.
The Chiefs are waiting patiently to find out their next opponent. They will face the winner of the upcoming New England Patriots vs. Los Angeles Chargers Divisional Round game. “We won this first game,” said Mahomes. “We have two more to go. Whoever we play next is going to be a great team. I’m excited we get to play it here in front of our fans.”
WIN ✔️ pic.twitter.com/DtEBHmJ76c
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 13, 2019
