One of the most impactful plays during the Kansas City Chiefs’ 17-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship was when Ravens rookie receiver Zay Flowers fumbled the ball at the goal line, and the ball was recovered by Kansas City in the end zone which resulted in a touchback.
To make matters worse for the rookie, Chiefs safety Justin Reid piled on Flowers after the game.
“LMAOO his a** deserve it was all that fake tough s**t,” Reid wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in response to a clip posted of Flowers’ costly fourth quarter blunder.
ZAY FLOWERS FUMBLE LEADS TO A TOUCHBACK 🤯😳
CHIEFS BALL.
(via @NFL)
pic.twitter.com/QVfHHfCeQy— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 28, 2024
Flowers had gotten on Kansas City’s bad side by scoring a touchdown in the first quarter and then taunting cornerback L’Jarius Sneed just three plays before Sneed forced Flowers’ goal line fumble.
“I was mad, man, because I didn’t see him behind me. The whole time I was going back to play safety, so I didn’t see him behind me,” Sneed said of the 54-yard catch he gave up to Flowers that resulted in Flowers being flagged for taunting, via KSHB 41 News. “I heard he stepped over me, so I was like, “OK” … [I] made the play, [I forced] the fumble.”
Chiefs Defense Suffocates Ravens Offense
A majority of Kansas City’s points in the AFC Championship came on the team’s first two offensive drives. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes completed 14 of 15 pass attempts on those drives and the result of each drive was a touchdown, the first one going to tight end Travis Kelce in the air and the next being an Isiah Pacheco rushing touchdown.
Patrick Mahomes to Travis Kelce.
Best playoff tandem.
Ever. pic.twitter.com/TrD8EAr3xH— Jeff Rosen (@jeff_rosen88) January 28, 2024
In the end, it was the Chiefs’ defense that allowed one of the NFL’s best offenses this season to score just one touchdown. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson completed just 54% of his passes and had 1 turnover, was sacked 4 times, and lost a fumble.
Here's how Zay Flowers' critical fumble looked from our pylon cam: pic.twitter.com/mHpxPx7nP9
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 28, 2024
Mahomes finished the game with a 76% completion percentage, 241 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and 0 turnovers. He was also sacked twice.
Kansas City’s leading receiver was Kelce, who caught all 11 of his targets for 116 yards and the touchdown. Pacheco led the team in rushing yards with 68 yards on 24 carries.
With the win, the Chiefs advance to the 2024 Super Bowl, which will take place on Sunday, February 11 in Las Vegas. They will face the San Francisco 49ers, who defeated the Detroit Lions 34-31 in the NFC Championship
Twitter/X Reacts to Chiefs’ Victory
Users on X reacted to Kansas City defeating Baltimore in the AFC Championship.
“I know it’s not just me, but the Chiefs seem more dialed in & more focused on the road,” one user wrote. “They have this different type of swagger. I love playing at home, but they seem more dangerous on the road! I feel good about Sunday.”
“All regular season long I was told we didn’t have the WR’s to make a Super Bowl,” another user wrote. “I was told Kelce was washed. I said the regular season was a dress rehearsal for the post season. Man this team just put on the greatest show of all! Super Bowl!!!!”
“I don’t want to hear nothing about the refs because it was very telling watching this game throughout that Kansas City players have been there before and Baltimore players have not! Simple as that…” another user wrote.
