KANSAS CITY, Mo. — They just won’t die.
The Patriots survived a wild, back-and-forth game to beat the Chiefs 37-31 in overtime in the AFC Championship at Arrowhead Stadium. The win puts them back in the Super Bowl for the third straight year and fourth time in five years where they will face the Rams in two weeks in Atlanta.
The game ended 4:52 into overtime, when Patriots running back Rex Burkhead scored his second touchdown of the game, this one a 2-yard plunge that kept the Patriots dynasty alive for another day.
Tom Brady and the Patriots converted on third-and-10 three times in the overtime period, twice on throws to Julian Edelman and once to Rob Gronkowski. The final one to Gronkowski moved the ball to the Kansas City 15. Burkhead then gained 10 yards to the 5 and 3 yards to the 2 before scoring the touchdown.
A tame game became wild in a fourth quarter that saw four lead changes, 35 points scored and a game-tying field goal with eight seconds left to force the second overtime game of Sunday.
The Patriots completely controlled the game early and had a 14-0 lead at halftime. Then, the Chiefs woke up. They scored on their first drive of the second half and early in the fourth quarter to cut the Patriots’ lead to 17-14.
That is when the lead began to see-saw as these two heavyweight offenses traded haymakers, each one feeling like it could be a deciding blow. Instead, the other continued to find a counterpunch and kept the crowd at Arrowhead Stadium on its feet. The final minutes of the game featured a near interception wiped out by an offsides penalty, a muffed fumble that wasn’t and big play after big play.
After watching Brady lead his team down the field to take a 31-28 lead with 39 seconds left in the game, Mahomes found an answer as he marched the Chiefs into field-goal position with a few beautiful throws, including a 27-yarder to Demarcus Robison that got them to the Patriots’ 21. From there, Harrison Butker made a 39-yard field goal to tie the game at 31 with eight seconds remaining in regulation.
The Chiefs’ answer came after Brady took his team 65 yards down the field with less than two minutes to play. The drive almost ended when a ball bounced off Rob Gronkowski’s hands and was intercepted by Charvarius Ward. The play was negated by a penalty on Chiefs linebacker Dee Ford for lining up offsides. On the next play, Brady hit Gronkowski for a 25-yard gain to the 4. Burkhead scored from there to give the Patriots a 31-28 lead.
Moments earlier, the Chiefs took a 28-24 lead on a Damien Williams 2-yard touchdown with 2:03 left in the game. The Chiefs drive was aided by two penalties on Patriots defensive back J.C. Jackson.
Trailing 21-17 with 7:45 left in the game, the Patriots took over at their own 25-yard line. Brady marched them down the field, aided by a terrible roughing the passer penalty on Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones that gave New England a first down. After that, the Patriots were rolling. Brady connected with Chris Hogan, who made a one-handed grab for a first down on third-and-8. Rex Burkhead ran for 14 yards. Rob Gronkowski had an 11-yard catch.
Then, on fourth-and-inches from the 10, Sony Michel ran through the Chiefs defense for a 10-yard touchdown and a 24-21 Patriots lead.
Minutes earlier the Patriots had given the Chiefs life thanks to Julian Edelman’s fingers. First, it appeared Edelman touched a punt and the Chiefs recovered, but the officials ruled he did not touch it upon review.
It did not matter because two plays later, a Brady pass went off Edelman’s fingers and into the hands of Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen, who returned it to the New England 23. From there, Mahomes found Williams on a 23-yard touchdown pass to take a 21-17 lead.
It looked like the Patriots would cruise to a win Sunday by the way the game went early. New England dominated on both sides of the ball, outgaining the Chiefs 245 yards to 32 in the first half. The Patriots’ first play of the game was an 11-yard run by Sony Michel that set the tone.
Their first drive of the game was a 15-play, 80-yard march to the end zone that ended with a 1-yard score by Michel. The 8-minute, 5-second drive was New England’s longest of the season, and the Pats were a perfect 3-for-3 on third down on the drive.
As impressive as the Patriots offense was in the first half, their defense matched them. They held the Chiefs scoreless in the first half, the first time a Chiefs team was shut out in the first half at home under coach Andy Reid, who was hired in 2013.
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