Quarterback Patrick Mahomes led the Kansas City Chiefs to the NFL semifinals despite an ankle injury. The 2020 Super Bowl champion moved into the AFC Championship Game on Saturday (local time) with a 27-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. There the Chiefs will meet the Buffalo Bills or the Cincinnati Bengals next Sunday.
MVP candidate Mahomes had 195 yards and two touchdown passes, but experienced a moment of shock early in the game. At the end of the first quarter, Jaguars defender Arden Key fell on his right leg, whereupon the playmaker initially played on and had to be substituted shortly afterwards. In the second half, the 27-year-old came back, limping visibly from an ankle injury, but still found receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the end zone. Mahomes is scheduled to undergo an MRI scan on Sunday, according to ESPN. “It’s feeling better than I thought it would be,” Mahomes said. “Obviously I’ve got a lot of adrenaline coursing through my blood right now, so we’ll see how it feels. But I’m going to jump right into treatment and try everything do to be back at 100 percent by next week.”
In the second quarterfinal game, the Philadelphia Eagles easily defeated the New York Giants 38-7, with Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts also getting two touchdown passes. In the semi-finals of the NFC, the Dallas Cowboys or the San Francisco 49ers are now at stake for entry into the Super Bowl on February 12 in Glendale/Arizona.