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BALTIMORE — The Kansas City Chiefs and the Super Bowl are getting back together.

For the fourth time in the last five years, future Hall of Famers Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce will be competing for a championship on Feb. 11 in Super Bowl LVIII.

This time, Taylor Swift and her legion of fans are on board with the ride to face the 49ers in Las Vegas.

Mahomes and Kelce connected 11 times for 106 yards and an early touchdown Sunday that set the tone for the Chiefs to play from ahead against the NFL’s best front-running team and beat the Ravens, 17-10, in the AFC Championship game in front of 71,439 at M&T Bank Stadium.

“You don’t take it for granted,” Mahomes said. “You never know many you are going to get to, or if you are going to get to any. It really is special, but the job’s not done. Our job now is to … try to get that ring.”


  Patrick Mahomes reacts during the Chiefs’ AFC Championship win over the Ravens on Jan. 28, 2024. AP Patrick Mahomes reacts during the Chiefs’ AFC Championship win over the Ravens on Jan. 28, 2024. AP

The Chiefs will be looking to cement a dynasty with a third Super Bowl win since 2019 after running out the final 2:34 with two first downs, including one on Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s 32-yard reception leading into the two-minute warning.

It was a fitting end considering that Chiefs receivers — especially Valdes-Scantling — were plagued by drops in big moments all season.

“Us, being the underdog, we battled through adversity all year,” Valdes-Scantling said. “They hadn’t really been tested with adverse situations throughout the year. We were able to handle it a little bit better than they did.”

And that’s why Kelce and Swift got to share a rare public-eye kiss on the field as his teammates celebrated holding up the Lamar Hunt Trophy — named for the late Chiefs’ owner.

The No. 1-seeded Ravens dominated their way to entering the game as four-point favorites, with nine wins by at least 14 points against winning teams and a 6-0 record against opponents that were three games or more above .500 at kickoff.

Perhaps most impressively, the Ravens only trailed for 9.7 percent — less than 95 minutes total — of their first 17 meaningful games.

But Kelce’s 19-yard touchdown provided a 7-0 lead eight minutes into the first quarter and the Chiefs became the first Ravens’ opponent to score touchdowns on their first two possessions when Isiah Pacheco ran for a 2-yard touchdown.

Harrison Butker kicked a 52-yard field goal for a 17-7 halftime lead.

“That was the main thing,” cornerback L’Jarius Sneed said. “Make sure we get a lead on them.”

The Ravens never led, trailed for nearly 43 minutes and will be haunted by second-half mistakes — some from rookie Zay Flowers and some from the likely second-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson.

Jackson’s first pass of the third quarter was his first this season when facing a double-digit deficit.


  Travis Kelce catches a touchdown pass during the Chiefs’ AFC Championship win over the Ravens on Jan. 28, 2024. AP Travis Kelce catches a touchdown pass during the Chiefs’ AFC Championship win over the Ravens on Jan. 28, 2024. AP

  Taylor Swift watches the Chiefs’ AFC Championship win over the Ravens on Jan. 28, 2024. AP Taylor Swift watches the Chiefs’ AFC Championship win over the Ravens on Jan. 28, 2024. AP

“I feel like my team is not frustrated but angry,” Jackson said.

The defining sequence of the game happened over a minute spanning the third and fourth quarters.

Flowers, who made a 30-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, broke free for a 54-yard catch — it could’ve been a touchdown with a better throw by Jackson — but negated some of the damage with a 15-yard penalty for taunting Sneed.

“I didn’t know that he did that,” Sneed said. “If I did, I would’ve said something.”

Sneed was still “mad” at himself when he got the last laugh on the first play of the fourth quarter as Flowers tried to stretch the ball over the goal line at the end of an 8-yard catch.

Sneed punched it loose at the 1-yard line, allowing teammate Trent McDuffie to recover in the end zone for a touchback.

The next offensive snap for the Ravens happened 98 yards away, at their own 1-yard line with 10:35 remaining.

Jackson quickly moved the Ravens to field-goal range but threw an ill-advised pass into triple coverage in the end zone that was intercepted by Deon Bush.


  Travis Kelce celebrates after scoring during the Chiefs’ AFC Championship win over the Ravens on Jan. 28, 2024. AP Travis Kelce celebrates after scoring during the Chiefs’ AFC Championship win over the Ravens on Jan. 28, 2024. AP

“When it came time to put the hammer down,” head coach Andy Reid said, “they put the hammer down.”

The Ravens brought out more than a half-dozen legends — none bigger than Ed Reed and Ray Lewis doing his signature introduction dance — to fire up the crowd on hand for the first AFC Championship game held in Baltimore since January 1971.

The only problem? The Chiefs have legends still coaching and playing.


  Lamar Jackson reacts during the Ravens’ AFC Championship loss to the Chiefs on Jan. 28, 2024. AP Lamar Jackson reacts during the Ravens’ AFC Championship loss to the Chiefs on Jan. 28, 2024. AP

Kelce had 116 yards receiving and the Steve Spagnuolo-coordinated defense held the NFL’s No. 1-ranked rushing attack to 81 yards.

“They just outplayed us. It’s simply that,” Ravens running back Justice Hill said. “They’re a championship team for a reason.”

And Mahomes (30 of 39 passing for 241 yards and a touchdown) outplayed Jackson (20 of 37 for 272 yards with a touchdown and an interception after the Chiefs were doubted all season — right through their two road playoff games.


  Patrick Mahomes looks to throw during the Chiefs’ AFC Championship win over the Ravens on Jan. 28, 2024. Getty Images Patrick Mahomes looks to throw during the Chiefs’ AFC Championship win over the Ravens on Jan. 28, 2024. Getty Images

“He’s going to give you his best shot anyway,” general manager Brett Veach said. “So, there’s no need to poke the bear, but if you want to do it, we certainly appreciate it.”

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