By The Associated Press
BALTIMORE (AP) — Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce were at their magnificent best in the first half, and Kansas City’s defense was superb against Lamar Jackson and Baltimore, helping the Chiefs reach the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years with a 17-10 victory over the Ravens in the AFC championship game Sunday.
Kansas City (14-6) will face San Francisco on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas, and a win would make the Chiefs the first team to win it all in back-to-back seasons since the New England Patriots 19 years ago.
Kelce caught 11 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown, again with girlfriend Taylor Swift in attendance. She gave him a postgame kiss on the field.
The Chiefs led 17-7 at halftime, and Justin Tucker’s 43-yard field goal with 2:34 to play was the only scoring of the second half. Baltimore kicked deep after that, and on third-and-9, Mahomes connected with Marquez Valdes-Scantling — one of his most-maligned receivers — on a 32-yard pass that sealed the game.
Mahomes went 30 of 39 for 241 yards and a touchdown.
Jackson could win his second MVP after leading Baltimore to the league’s best record and point differential during the regular season, but the Ravens (14-5) allowed touchdowns on the first two Kansas City possessions and made undisciplined mistakes all game.
49ERS 34, LIONS 31
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Brock Purdy threw for 267 yards and a touchdown, and San Francisco rallied from 17 points down at halftime to beat the Detroit and reach the Super Bowl.
The 49ers (14-5) scored 17 points in an eight-minute span of the third quarter to tie the NFC championship game and then pulled away in the fourth quarter to earn a rematch against Kansas City after losing to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl four years ago.
San Francisco mounted the fourth comeback ever from 17 points down or more in a conference title game thanks to some big plays by Purdy and bad mistakes from the Lions (14-6), including two failed fourth downs in field-goal range. Detroit fell short of reaching the first Super Bowl in franchise history.
Purdy engineered a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter to beat Green Bay last week and then had an even bigger comeback against the Lions.
Christian McCaffrey had two TD runs and little-used backup Elijah Mitchell scored on a 3-yard run to make it 34-24 with 3:02 to play as the Niners got over the conference title game hump after losing the past two seasons.
The Lions couldn’t finish the job despite holding a 24-7 halftime lead. Detroit coach Dan Campbell went for it on fourth down twice in field goal range in the second half, but the Lions were stopped both times.
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