Magic runs out on KC's Patrick Mahomes in second half

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes looked like a magician on Kansas City’s first three drives. Then he disappeared.

Mahomes made some puzzling decisions in Kansas City’s 27-24 overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game, none bigger than at the end of the first half.

Leading 21-10, Kansas City had a first-and-goal with nine seconds left after former Giant Eli Apple was called for pass interference on Tyreek Hill in the end zone. KC had no timeouts, and ended up getting no points.

On first down, Mahomes’ pass was incomplete. He moved around a little and wasted valuable seconds instead of throwing it away quickly.

On second down, with five seconds left, he said he wanted something quick over the middle.

Instead, he passed it to Hill near the sideline with two Bengals near him. Hill was tackled at the 1 by Apple, and time ran out.

"We had just run a play, took four seconds the play before, where I burned it," Mahomes said. "I knew the time was low. I knew we needed to get points. I was supposed to throw the ball away. I got a little greedy there. I tried to give it to Tyreek, get a touchdown with two people out there.

"In the long run of things, it looks bad. If we had another chance, I would have gone for another play again."

Coach Andy Reid blamed himself, saying he should have called a better play that would have sprung someone open in the end zone. A chip-shot field goal probably was the smart call after the first-down play, but everyone in Kansas City is used to Mahomes making plays.

After throwing touchdown passes on Kansas City’s first three series, he was 13-for-14 before that final series and 18-for-21 at the half with no interceptions.

After halftime, Mahomes completed only 8 of 18 passes for 55 yards, took some bad sacks and was picked off twice. The second one in overtime led to the Bengals’ winning field goal.

"There were a few misreads here and there," Mahomes said. "There were guys that were open that I didn’t hit at the right time. I passed up on short ones and went to get something deeper down the field.

"When you’re playing a good team and you don’t hit what’s there and try to get a little more than what’s necessary, it kind of bites you in the butt. We were playing so well in the first half. In the second half, we were off a tick. That’s all it takes to lose a football game."