The last time that Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady matched up in a postseason game, a trip to the Super Bowl was on the line.
A Super Bowl win will be on the line in their second playoff meeting. Mahomes threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns as the Chiefs took out the Bills for a 38-24 win in the AFC Championship Game. Brady helped the Bucs to a win in the NFC title game and the two men will lead their teams into Super Bowl LV two weeks from today.
Mahomes’ last two touchdown passes came to tight end Travis Kelce, who finished the game with 13 catches for 118 yards. Tyreek Hill added nine catches for 172 yards as the Chiefs leaned heavily on their stars in an approach that paid off handsomely for Kansas City.
Not everything went according to plan for the Chiefs. Left tackle Eric Fisher left the game with an Achilles injury in the fourth quarter and seems likely to miss the Super Bowl.
The game was still hanging in the balance early in the fourth quarter with the Bills driving deep in Chiefs territory while down 16 points. Chiefs cornerback Rashad Fenton picked off a pass intended for Bills wide receiver John Brown to eliminate any realistic chance of a comeback for the road team.
Fenton’s interception was part of a rough ending to a brilliant season for Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Allen seemed to hold the ball a beat longer than you’d like all night and wound up 28-of-48 for 287 yards and two touchdowns to go with that interception. The Chiefs were able to limit Stefon Diggs to six catches for 77 yards and the Bills never found much offensive momentum after taking an early 9-0 lead.
Credit to that should go to Steve Spagnuolo’s defense and the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator has a good history when it comes to dealing with Tom Brady in a Super Bowl. He was the Giants’ defensive coordinator in Super Bowl XLII when they knocked off the Patriots.
Brady is in a different uniform now and his team will be the home team with the game taking place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. One imagines the Chiefs won’t find that to be too much of a concern, but it is one of many storylines that will fill the two weeks until the final game of the 2020 season.