Mahomes, Kelce, Chiefs Celebrated by NFL Fans for Beating Ravens, Reaching Super Bowl

The Kansas City Chiefs reaching the Super Bowl has become something of an inevitability. Call it the Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce effect.

The pair were excellent yet again on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game, leading the Chiefs to a 17-10 road win against the Baltimore Ravens.

Mahomes was efficient and played nearly mistake-free football, finishing 30-of-39 for 241 yards, one score and no turnovers. He was sacked just twice.

Perhaps those numbers don't leap off the page, but he did that against arguably the best defense in football. Oh, and he did it on the road, despite the previous criticisms that he never had to prove himself in the postseason away from home.

All while his counterpart, Lamar Jackson, threw an interception and was sacked four times. The Chiefs didn't have a turnover—the Ravens had three.

Kelce's numbers did jump off the page, as he finished with 11 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown. He passed NFL legend Jerry Rice for the most receptions in playoff history.

So yes, Mahomes and Kelce were deservingly showered with praise after yet another excellent postseason performance:

The Chiefs won for a number of reasons.

They managed the game well, accumulating nearly 37 minutes in time of possession. The defense was superb, holding Baltimore's top-ranked rushing offense to just 81 yards on the ground. Kansas City protected the ball, was far better on crucial downs (8-of-18 on third down, 1-of-2 on fourth) compared to Baltimore (3-of-11 on third down, 2-of-2 on fourth) and didn't have nearly the number of dumb penalties that the Ravens committed (eight Baltimore penalties for 95 yards).

But at the end of the day, the game boiled down to one main thing—Mahomes and Kelce were elite, while Jackson and his collection of weapons were not.

In the playoffs, the differences reside in the margins, and Mahomes seems to always win that battle for his team. He's the best active quarterback, and it's not particularly close.