KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Even with reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes knocked out of the game in the second half, the Browns were unable to seize the moment and push past the defending Super Bowl champs and into the AFC Championship Game.
They lost 22-17 to the No. 1 seed Chiefs to abruptly end their glorious season, one in which they finished 11-5 and made the playoffs for the first time in 18 years. They came painfully close to returning to the AFC title game for the first time since the 1989 season, but couldn’t pull it out in the end.
“It sucks, to be quite honest with you guys,’' said quarterback Baker Mayfield. “It sucks because so many people have sacrificed so much during this process and this very strange season and overcome adversity. It sucks because we believed in it.’'
Mahomes (21-of-30, 255 yards, 1 TD, 106.9 rating) was knocked out of the game with just over seven minutes left in the third quarter and the Chiefs ahead 19-10 when linebacker Mack Wilson made accidental helmet-to-helmet contact and knocked him into another time zone.
Mahomes got up woozy and wobbled to the sidelines, where he was immediately checked in the medical tent. Soon, he was being evaluated for a concussion in the locker room, and ruled out of the game.
“He got hit in the back of the head, and it kind of knocked the wind out of him and everything else with it, so we took him out,’' coach Andy Reid said. “He’s doing great right now, which is a real positive as we looked at this. He passed all the deals that he needed to pass, so we’ll see where it goes from here.’'
The Chiefs, of course, are hoping that Mahomes will be back next week for next week’s game here against the Bills, their third straight AFC title game and the first time an NFL team has hosted three straight conference championships.
Wilson’s unflagged hit angered some of the Chiefs, including Cleveland-native Travis Kelce (8 catches, 109 yards, 1 TD), according to Myles Garrett.
“I’m definitely praying for Patrick,’' said Garrett, who was limited with an oblique injury in the second half. “Nobody on our team is headhunting, going after guys or trying to hurt a guy, no matter how good he is.
“I know Travis felt like that, and I am cool with Travis. I don’t ever want him to feel like my guys or my team is out here trying to injure somebody or put them out of the game.’'
With Mahomes in the locker room, 35-year-old backup Chad Henne made back-to-back improbable plays to send the Browns home for the offseason. With the Chiefs clinging to their 22-17 lead and the Browns gaining momentum, Garrett sacked Henne for a 6-yard loss to put him in a third and 14 at his 35 at the two-minute warning.
Henne felt the heat and escaped left, diving for what he hoped was the first down, with Larry Ogunjobi in pursuit and M.J. Stewart there to make the stop. Inches short, Andy Reid went for it, calling for a bootleg right out the shotgun, with Henne firing a 5-yard game-clinching sideline route to Tyreek Hill.
Fireworks went off in both end zones, and the Browns’ Super Bowl hopes fizzled.
“It came down to us on defense, and we let it slip,’' Garrett said. “We had two opportunities – they came to third down twice and fourth down on the second one, and we didn’t make it happen. It was right in front of us, and this time, we didn’t get it done.”
Limited mostly to third down in the second half, Garrett wasn’t surprised that Reid made the gutsy call there.
“They’d rather take their shot than have to play on their back foot and give us another shot at going to the end zone,’' Garrett said. “I know they’re confident on offense and rightfully so. Chad made a great play.’'
Mayfield (23-of-37, 204 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 74.6 rating) lamented not having a chance at the end.
“It was frustrating, but that’s the way these games work,’' he said. “Long drives, you have to take advantage of your opportunities. We didn’t do that today.’'
Things looked promising when the Browns closed to 22-17 with 11:07 on a 3-yard run by former Chief Kareem Hunt. The drive featured a 17-yard pass to Rashard Higgins on third down, and the Browns were wearing down the defense.
Karl Joseph picked off Henne in the end zone with eight minutes left to give Mayfield the ball back at his 20, but they moved only 12 yards before Stefanski opted to punt on fourth and 9 with 4:19 left.
“That was just probably too long there at that distance,’' Stefanski said. “If it was tighter, without a doubt.”
Mayfield had no problem with the strategy.
“Obviously, when you get the ball with momentum starting to swing our way, we were confident that we were going to go out there [and score],’' he said. “They decided to bring a couple of pressures and made the plays, and we did not.’'
The Browns, who trailed 19-3 at the half, knew they’d have to play a clean game to win and they didn’t. They lost the turnover battle 2-1, a recipe for losing. Heading in, the Browns were 11-0 when winning or tying the turnover battle.
But they were also the victims of a controversial non-call at the end of the first half. Mayfield got hot on his final drive, hitting David Njoku with a 26-yarder and Higgins with a 23. He threw another perfect pass to Higgins, and as he dove for the right pylon, he was drilled helmet-to-helmet by safety Daniel Sorensen and fumbled through the end zone for a touchback.
The fumble withstood a review, but the hit wasn’t reviewable. CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore deemed it an illegal blow.
“Honestly, I didn’t see the replay,’' Stefanski said. “I was told about it, but I’ll let the league handle those types of things.”
He acknowledged, however that Higgins (5 catches for 88 yards) asked for trouble on that play.
“I’ll never ever doubt Rashard Higgins’ effort or our guys’ effort,’' he said. “Our rule there is not to reach the ball out when it’s first and goal, and he knows that. Again, appreciate his effort. He battled like he always does, but we have to fight that urge.’'
The Chiefs parlayed it into a field for a 19-3 command at the break.
The second half began as disastrously as the first half ended — not the kind of double-dip Stefanski was looking for. Mayfield threw a short pass to Jarvis Landry, and safety Tyrann Mathieu, who had six picks during the season for No. 3 in the NFL, jumped the route and picked it off to start K.C at the Browns’ 19.
“Obviously, the cardinal sin of throwing late on the move over the middle of the [field],’' Mayfield said. “Obviously, Tyrann is a great player. Jarvis didn’t see him or I’m sure he would’ve fought for it. I said it earlier in the week, you have to know where he is.’'
Garrett limped off the field for a play after that pick, but came back to pressure Mahomes into a third-down incompletion to Kelce. Kicker Harrison Butker missed the 33-yard field goal to waste the takeaway.
Mayfield seized the moment, marching downfield and hitting Landry with a 4-yard TD pass to Landry to close within 19-10 with 9:29 left in the third. But it was a rough outing overall for Landry, who was targeted 10 times but had only 20 yards receiving on seven catches. He dropped his first target on the opening drive, and had another go off his hands in the fourth quarter that Mathieu almost picked off.
Nick Chubb, held to 69 yards on 13 carries, also dropped back-to-back passes in the first half on a drive that also featured a holding call and a batted pass that Mayfield caught for an 8-yard loss. When you only have three first-half drives, one can’t look like that.
“We talked about that at halftime,’' Stefanski said. “We had a bunch of drops, penalties, bad play calls and all of it. It just wasn’t good enough. You can’t come in here and ultimately score 17 points and get a win versus this team.’'
It didn’t help matters that the Browns lost left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. to an ankle injury on their first play from scrimmage, and that they later lost his replacement Kendall Lamm to an elbow injury. As Mayfield noted, ‘that guy Blake Hance’ whom he just met last week was in there again.
Despite all the adversity in the game, the Browns kept it close enough to win in the end, and they were ultimately done in by the arms and legs of a guy named Henne and not Mahomes.
“I’m extremely disappointed that we weren’t able to get the job done today,’' Stefanski said. “We had our opportunity late in that ball game, and we didn’t do it. There’s a finality to this one when you don’t get it done in the playoffs, and that really hurts. I appreciate how our guys battled. They fought like they do every single week, and it just wasn’t enough today.”
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